In the face of the World Disasters surrounding 2010 and 2011, the globe has experienced Tsunami’s, Earthquakes, Floods and Fires that have destroyed communities, families and ecosystems at uncanny scales and frequencies. Conversely, in the face of unstable global economies, individuals and companies have experienced a myriad of personal and corporate disasters. In response, we have witnessed rebuilding efforts on massive scales and reinvention has followed for the countries, regions, individuals and businesses affected.

Disaster and destruction are never permanent, something new always evolves in their paths. Not to wax scientific here, but lets just say that Regeneration is mother nature’s built-in and best defense. As nature rebuilds, people do too, when it comes to business and career, I like to think that reinvention is their best defense.

With executive level employees and their mandates being outsourced and downsized at alarming rates, we are seeing increasing numbers of people with 20+ years of work experience facing unexpected unemployment. A feeling of loss and failure coupled with worries about coming to an end of a cycle in their lives is inevitable. Many feel like their careers are over, there is a daunting sense of what’s next, how will I survive?

I liken this phase of an executive’s career development to a personal tsunami. The wave has been building slowly and then suddenly it appears. There’s little to no preparation for what has hit you.

Workforce Infographics tell us that executives facing weak markets for full-time employment have been forced to consider working free-lance as either self-employed consultants or, as owner operators of their own businesses. Here is where we see a golden opportunity, an opportunity to reinvent. Forced maybe, but the outcome can be exhilarating and lead to a whole new way of life.

Reinvention doesn’t have to be done solo, and at the executive level it shouldn’t be. Coaches and Personal Branding Strategists are champions of hanging a shingle and going out on your own. The key here is embracing the option while bolstering confidence and strategy around the whole concept. Groups like HAPPEN across Canada for example, are phenomenal support groups.

As freelance and self-employed talent now floods the market, employers are building best practices around retention and attraction of self-employed talent. Between mitigating the risks of full-time hires and benefiting from the proven innovation and specialization offered by the self-employed work force, we may be seeing more than just executives reinventing here. Companies like Microsoft and more recently, Caterpillar are driven mostly by self-employed talent.

As more and more large-scale corporations make the choice to hire this way, we’ll see the statistics reflected in work force and human capital studies. Here at our Interim Executive Management practice, we spend a large portion of our days working with individuals in transition and coaching them on the many benefits of working for your self, as a sole proprietor or incorporated entity. Between the flexibility and tax breaks and the excitement of working with multiple clients, many executives who turn to being Interim Executives as a temporary option never turn back once they see the personal and financial benefits. On the flip side, many of our clients count on our interim talent for renewed business strategy, transformation and change.

As in life, all things are cyclical, and with every end, there is always a new beginning. If you experience a personal tsunami, having faith in knowing that you can rebuild and reinvent is half the battle. In fact, a journey to YouTube may do the trick, just punch in Reinvention and enjoy the ride. Once you have the desire, there are a myriad ways to get started. Embrace the change and it will embrace you.

By the way, if you have reinvented yourself or have stories about companies who have, I’d like to hear from you or your colleagues.

In 2009 I saw a significant change within my talent network. Whether they were in the trenches of technology or on the peripheries like human resources or marketing; the economic shake down drove people out of their full-time jobs and onwards to hang consulting shingles, launch professional services firms or start promoting themselves as incorporated entities.*

Offering permanent employment these days comes with a list of challenges that revolve around an urgency to produce reciprocal ROI early in the game. Gone are the days of hiring someone and giving them a five year plan. These days, five months is generous. Hitting the ground running is a given, in fact, you better be able to sprint with ground shaking beneath your feet. The risk of full-time employment is two sided and the doubts have everything to do with our economy, and meeting expectations. Employees’ tolerance factors for unmet expectations are as low as the employers they decide to join.

With risk out weighing stability when it comes to fulltime employment decisions, organizations have to become more adept at identifying, attracting and retaining permanent employees. Unfortunately I’m seeing far too many employers rely on recruitment and human capital solutions providers who claim to tackle this challenge and do not.

The inevitable symptom of weak and unstable fulltime hiring practices is a larger contract work force. Ultimately this can be a drain on corporate capital, both intellectual and financial. Especially if organizations continue deny the fact that they aren’t set up to handle the kind of strain a revolving work force can place on an infrastructure that isn’t set up to manage the kind of budgets outsourced resources require or capture knowledge transfer properly. It’s a trend that is strengthening the power and effectiveness of consultants and contractors who have amassed valuable tool kits and proprietary approaches to the work they do. The end result is a resource driven market.

There is a bigger talent pool looking for work than we’ve seen in decades. That means an over whelming amount of profiles and skill sets to choose from. This makes identifying who you want to hire very difficult. In fact, with droves of candidates being sourced thru social networks and job boards and not enough good old fashioned head hunting, sourcing talent is more like casting a commercial size fishing net than a targeted selection process.

Now that too many people are applying and being identified for opportunities, hiring managers are prone to navel gazing and creating long cycles to hire, especially for fulltime hires. This is because they can re-set the horizon with every candidate they meet and often believe that someone better will come along. In the mean time there is always a pressing project or launch that needs immediate attention, and this becomes a need that can be met with a contractor or consultant.

Here’s where someone on short term assignment can always meet demand. With diverse accomplishments in varied environments, contractors and consultants boast impressive engagements that are defined by a beginning and end. Their resumes often detail projects that have been conducted in less than a year within aggressive deadlines involving millions of dollars. Project focused perspectives have an advantage here from the get go. Selection to hire is more rapid, because it is often geared to very specific skills and experience and less about fit. When there is a clear task at hand and a defined impact that can be made, tolerances for cultural discrepancies are very high. In fact, environments run by out sourced talent are some of the most diverse and colorful I’ve seen.

If I were a sociologist or economist, I’d be researching the effects that this new breed of work force will have on corporate cultures, their performances and P&Ls. I’d also be looking at the changes that have to be made in how we educate and prepare our workers and employers of the future. If ultimately we become focused upon 6 month to 12 month engagements, who will be accountable for the long term picture and how will that unfold? What new approaches to talent management and retention will evolve? In what ways will we control the future of our companies and corporations?

*Here are some organizations that have helped improve the Canadian landscape for individuals who choose to incorporate and/or launch consulting businesses:

The National Association of Computer Consulting Businesses – http://www.naccb.ca
The Tech Serve Alliance – http://www.techservealliance.org/about-techserve/about-techserve.cfm
George Wall and Associates – http://www.wallca.com/Index.html

These pointers come up for me on a daily basis when it comes to working with hiring managers and helping them win against the increasing challenges we face in today’s competitive markets for top talent.

I use the words “to-hire” a lot in my tips, the idea is to keep focused on this as your goal and remember it’s not a fishing expedition, it’s a targeted exercise aimed at making sure you attract the candidate you want.

Have a read, hope it helps!

1) Lead a round table meeting with your team; speak freely about the kind of candidate you need to hire.

Let ideas flow and build a wish list that details team dynamics and where the gaps are. Think of this as your team’s holistic road map-to-hire.

The right hire starts with knowing and examining who you are as a company, team and, as a hiring manager.

If you have time and inclination, I recommend The Gabriel Institutes’s Role Based Assessments – I was blown away by this method’s accuracy . The concept is based on studying your current team’s dynamics and making management and hiring decisions based on the key character traits that you, your company and team will benefit from most – https://www.thegabrielinstitute.com

2) Build a candidate profile. This should be created by first developing an understanding of your fit-to-hire criteria. Your skills-to-hire should follow

Now that you’ve looked at your team holistically; you should be able to determine what background, accomplishments, traits and soft skills you want in your candidate. Map out the skills required last.

Skills are the weakest predictor of how well some one will do in a new role ( though essential ) .

Developing a consensus around interview questions is very important at this stage. It’s always helpful to do some prep first with with the help of books like, Ace The Interview http://www.acetheinterview.com/, and to state the obvious – you should go to Google for tips and blogs.

Remember, fit-to-hire always comes first and you’ll see that good interview guides artfully help you learn how to qualify candidates above and beyond their skills.

3) Develop a job description as an opportunity profile.

Your opportunity profile should reflect the personality of your team and the person you are targeting to hire. The copy should lead with who you are as a company and culture as well as what the role offers to the potential hire. Requirements should focus on the sought after backgrounds, accomplishments, and personality traits you’ve already identified in your candidate profile.

4) Create a short and efficient selection-to-hire cycle.

When your dream candidate shows up you need to act fast and show them the love.

Book your short listed candidates’ interviews within 2 visits.
If possible schedule these no more than 1 week apart.
Plan the first interview for a minimum of 1 hour, the second for 2 or more.

First round? Confirm 2-team members- the hiring manager, a peer or subordinate.

Second round? Plan a company tour, confirm time with an esteemed C or VP level executive and finish with the hiring manager. This is your candidate’s chance to feel out your company and his or her new team. Introduce the candidate to prospective team mates who should be encouraged to offer your candidate their cards and make them selves available for coffees or follow up phone calls.

Note: Focused and targeted selection models portray a company who knows what it’s doing. If the market sees that your company is interviewing large volumes of candidates and engaging multiple recruiting agencies for your openings; your credibility goes down.

5) Pave the way for your offer to be accepted seamlessly. ( this is a bit of an art and it could have been a whole blog on its own )

Have the ” what would it take to get you here” conversation immediately after 2nd interview.

The goal here is to make a verbal offer, close your candidate.

This can be done over a casual coffee, lunch or dinner. Elect the best team representative to make this important gesture.

It’s important to work with the candidate’s schedule for this phase, it helps covey your enthusiasm.

Here is where a discussion about compensation, title, scope, and start date should happen – and if necessary references. Extracting details at this stage are key, make to sure talk about vacations, religious holidays, title, bonuses, non competes, office hours, scope etc.. Make sure you address and confirm as many potential offer details as possible so that when your candidate receives his or her offer, there are no surprises.

During your conversation, commit to follow-up the same day or early the next with a formal offer document. Always convey when and how it will be sent.

Have a draft offer approved and ready to go concurrent to scheduling this important meeting. That means having a wide compensation range pre-approved by your executive so that you can literally fill in the blanks with out causing delays.

Always put an aggressive deadline on offer acceptance, allow no more than 3 business days. You can always extend for lawyers schedules etc.

If your company policy is to conduct references and background checks, a conditional offer may be the way to go. If this is the case you will have to rally the troops to make sure these are done as quickly as possible. All background checks can be done in 24hrs, it will cost more but it’s worth it.

Hope my 5 essentials have helped you out; if you have any comments or feedback I’d love to hear from you.

Writing for a personal blog engages a different set of muscles than writing for a business site. When you blog it’s personal and it comes from YOU. Business writing is all about capturing people’s attention is short bursts of information, distilling complex information into sound bites if you will. There’s even an alchemical component, because you are transforming your words and phrases into messages and teachings, the indicators of thought leadership. With each draft your subject matter condenses and becomes more concentrated, the version you end up with is a distillation of the first.

Heck I’ve tried writing my bio seven times and I’m on my sixth draft of a tips sheet for hiring managers. My Shoptalk questions luckily came a little easier, albeit at 3am in the morning – “quick grab the blackberry and craft a note-to-self”. After four drafts, I thought I had the copy perfected to send a dozen promotional e-mails. Only to realize that when you cut and paste in Gmail, it may look like Verdana to the sender but to the recipient; it actually looks like a cut and pasted ransom note. Charge me with 12 counts of lost credibility.

I guess I am walking through a writing labyrinth of sorts. Finding my way through a challenging set of paths and doorways, hoping to end up with something that reads well, and captures a diverse audience. It’s not driven by impulses of self-expression, it can’t be that indulgent.

Blogs? Heck, I just write them, no drafts per se- just frequent shock at my monster typos and misspells (which I fix over and over). When I was at Brainhunter and Keen, I sometimes wrote them in under 30 minutes.

Looking back at how many unexpected changes my colleagues, clients and candidates have seen since 2009. I am surprised I haven’t blogged more. It’s as though we were swept up by the tides of the recession, caught in a wave of hopes for economic recovery, and washed ashore to uncharted territory.

The landscapes we face now in our economy and work places are nothing like they were before 2008. Shifts in the economy and technology have affected how we communicate, how we do business, and how we plan our futures. The down turn has totally rearranged how we perceive money and our jobs. Proceed with caution signs are everywhere. The world’s tolerance for risk hasn’t only lowered in banking. Its lowered people’s tolerance for mediocrity and willingness to compromise. People are walking away from jobs they don’t like, and companies are scrambling to find good talent. Note they are also scrambling to clean up their acts so that they can attract and retain good talent. This is the dawning of an employee driven market, many of whom bond with each other and communicate by writing across many different channels throughout the day.

With so much to face in a given day, writing has evolved in its role as a vital tool for how we navigate and create our lives. Between 140 characters on Twitter, our status updates on Facebook and LinkedIn, emails, web site content and various flavours of Blogs; we write our way through life at home and at work reaching out to be heard. It’s something we do consistently, while in the background more and more venues are becoming available.

So, here’s to blogging more and getting better at writing for business too.
If anyone who reads this has been hesitant to blog or publish, send me your stuff – I have access to a great set of eyes, aka the Chief at RedCanary.

Adios, bon weekend!

CJ

I caught my self following his ride as I took the streetcar south. His skin was deeply tanned and the way the sun hit his face and his very white unkempt hair stopped me in my tracks. I was glad my blackberry was in disrepair because I would have leaned out the window, snapped a shot and put it on my Facebook status “not every one works in and office”.

The whole vignette had an earnest quality and peacefulness about it. He certainly wasn’t going to a desk of any kind. I had a sense he wasn’t much of a computer user. The romantic in me projected that he lead a simple content life, he was obviously out doors a lot, healthy, and to some degree, free. I sensed that he was doing what he wanted to do – maybe he owned a neighborhood sandwich bar?

When I started to write this blog it was going to be called “Creativity at Work, Formulas for Success”. For some reason his image kept coming to mind and it drew me towards other virtues like, courage, simplicity, honesty and non-conformity and how they hold equal importance when determining the paths to success.

I have read countless books and articles about creativity and applying your inner artist to problem solve, stand out amongst your peers, and do truly great things with your life.  I don’t read enough books about getting back to basics and simple living. I think that’s why I was so intrigued with my man on his bike. Are the two concepts polar opposites? Can you derive the same happiness from a simple humble life that is full of gratitude as you can channel your inner artist and striving to live out side of the box to do remarkable things?

Authors, bloggers, and career coaches, reach out to those of us who are not in artistic vocations. They attempt to inspire us towards igniting our inner artist so that we can become non-linear in our thinking, challenge our fears of non-conformity and get out in the world to make great things happen. In much of this line of literature, we see that Picasso was as much of an artist as Einstein. Even your local Bus Driver, Star Bucks Barista or Government Clerk can create art in his or her work.  Being creative even in the most mundane of tasks can lead to a greater meaning in life and deeper satisfaction.

Seth Godin’s Lynchpin speaks to Art and being an Artist. He has moved many people to the realization that a motion away from being creative in this day and age is career sabotage. That to repress and stifle your inner artist could lead to inertia, personal failure and the demise of economic innovation. Richard Florida reputed for his support of the creative class; I’m sure seconds Seth’s motions. He certainly paints a vivid picture in his latest book “The Great Re-Set” about how if we artificially support out the dated business models and industries we prevent innovation, hold down creative solutions and stifle opportunities for new industries and communities to shine. Julia Cameron’s, The Artist’s Way teaches us about creativity through a different channel. She actually provides a workbook to guide us through an exploratory journey that unleashes our blocked creativity helping us come closer to self-actualization and more authentic ways of interacting in our lives.

Sometimes I think non-conformity can offer the same fulfillment as creativity, on some levels they are interchangeable and they often co-exist.

Kenny Moore, the author of The CEO and The Monk, has become successful following a mix of non-conformity and art.  Kenny was a Monk turned HR executive – I guess that’s courage too. Kenny was a monk who had the guts to say, “Holy crap” (no pun intended); some of these high-powered CEOs could use a guy like me. He stood up to the CEO of Key Span, a large multinational energy giant and turned them to profits. How? By coaching the CEO to advocate spirituality and kindness towards others as a way of bolstering work place satisfaction and performance.

Bottom line, in these kinds of movements – If you are creative, courageous and non-conformist at work and in your life, good things can happen.

The impressions I felt relating to the man on his bike made me realize how our fast paced, very wired crack-berried lives are maybe a tad too busy and almost crazy. If you live life simply doing what you do well and are humble and grateful, you can achieve an inner piece that inspires and ignites creativity too. It doesn’t have to be as intense and passionate as many authors advocate. Sometimes simple and honest vocations and lives can allow for calmer existences and create the space and capacity for creativity. Creativity doesn’t have to lead to fame; it should lead to fulfillment though.

Regardless of the path you take, it seems to be that there is a mix of states and traits that lead to happiness, success and contentment.  Creativity it seems, is driven by things in all shapes and sizes and so too is satisfaction.

In closing, thought I’d share these quotes, then get to work

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”  ~Leonardo DaVinci

“Do not follow where the path may lead.  Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail.”  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent.  It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.”  ~E.F. Schumacher

CJ

She’s left the world of Fortune 500s to join a downtown professional services shop that also sells some very cool software.

Her new employer is seriously innovative and is making strides selling to the very space she left. She enters into her new role as a principal, after years of program management leading complex initiatives and juggling IT transformation portfolios since her career hit critical mass in the mid nineties. She’s mastered large-scale application roll outs and shifts in operations through multiple overhauls and upgrades. She gets what change is all about.

Given she has now joined a services company, her value is immense. She has the contacts and the understanding of the internal workings of her new clients. She undoubtedly brings credibility to the table.

What about her new employer? It’s a big shift, which brings opportunities via progressive, agile thinking. Gone are the processes leading up to make things happen, the bureaucratic thickets. Things move fast, really fast.

Interestingly her shift occurs in the midst of a real world shift. The distinction between on-line and mobile content is blurring and users are becoming so sophisticated that personal technology is now often more advanced than what we use in our offices. Where we were 6 months ago is almost radically different than where we are today. Time and our experience of time is on a whole other continuum, what took a decade to feel now takes a few months.

So, I say, “how is it, do you love it?”

“Yeah”, she says with an air of hesitation, “It’s really refreshing”. Then she confides, “ I feel like I’m back in school some days, I’m amazed at the ways these guys source and share information, when I get home at night, I have to really  tinker to figure all this stuff out. With us, if we’re not plugged in with each other we’re not maximizing our work relationships and production it’s really intense”

“We’re small” , she tells me. “We employ 12 people. We use Google for mail, Prezi’s for presentations” Things aren’t as Microsoft centric as she’s used to. She talks about their fan page on Facebook, their Blogs,Tweets and how the intelligence they have about their clients and social networks goes way beyond CRM.

We aren’t boot strap any more, but being there made these guys push for affordable and innovative stuff for us to work with. Forget CRM!”, she laughs.”We have an analytics partner that has made our Sales Force data look like it’s on steroids. We live and produce on our mobile devices and we’ve become role models to our clients who are still navel gazing about integrating mobile technologies whole heartedly into their work practices. We all use iPhones, and now I get kind of excited about the thought bringing an iPad to lunch meetings. I used to roll my eyes at that stuff”

To those of you who are working for vendors in the emerging technology space, you were all catching the wave a few years back. But for people whose roots are in traditional IT, the paradigm shift hasn’t hit fully across the enterprise yet. So, when people who are used to traditional IT shops step out into more nimble start up environments; especially those that sell and integrate new technologies, the shift can be a shock.

Think BlackBerry 1999 and how hard it was to get used to thumb texting and holding what felt like a hockey puck up to your ear. Think UGG boots circa 2000 and how crazy we thought it was to let your kids wear them…never mind, but I do wish I bought stock in both companies.

We all think, write and talk  about what lies ahead for large-scale enterprises, and how our personal worlds are being pushed into all kinds of mobile apps and social media channels.I am just beginning to imagine what will change beyond better communication between employees, companies, clients and consumers. Sociologists are getting ready for some serious fun.

As I research new markets, I am amazed at the next breeds of social media apps, tools and consulting firms and how they bring BI, CRM, and organizational/social intelligence to a whole new level. It may have been consumer-focused work in the first evolution, but now it’s how every one at every age and demographic is prompted to relate, learn and grow relationships. Innovative and scientifically minded social media entrepreneurs are pushing humantity to explore ways of re-inventing how they connect to each other. Wish I had a crystal ball.

Knowing she would be in one of the city’s biggest most sought after high schools, I knew she would face challenges. Big means busy and busy means crowded and crowded means, you can get lost and not every one you meet will like you, and in my daughter’s case, will want to teach you. It’s doubtful that big high schools are sought after because of the teachers alone; they can’t be good across the board either. Challenge is indisputably necessary, but it isn’t always comfortable.

Sought after high schools draw large populations because of many factors: programs, demographics; size and location; leadership, and appealing common visions. Common visions are the flavor, but not every one in a big population will hold the same candle; there’s always the diffuse member. The one who joins the club but doesn’t abide by the rules. Rule breaking teachers (and students) can be leaders and pioneers which is ideal. In my daughter’s case, she has found a few who are negative, disrespectful and darn right unworthy of their professions.

Her distress call today from school was about a French teacher who said, “if any one wants an extra 5% you better be nice to me. If I don’t like you, I won’t give you the extra marks, and if you don’t like me, you can leave my class”. She’s the one who called 4 parents to complain about a friend their daughters had in common and try to convince the parents to turn their daughters against her. There was also a rant about the math teacher who gave her a failing grade after handing her a math test on the stuff she’d missed while away before March break, the one who told us she didn’t need to study anything while she vactioned.

These kinds of things can happen in toxic work places, in unenlightened social circuits, in crooked politics, on soap operas….but in an esteemed educational institution?? This brings the phrase, “This is so high school!” to a whole other level.

The tragic flaw that teachers and bosses and any one in authority can often reveal is abuse of perceived power. When you are in charge it’s easy to fall into; it can even be unconscious which is truly sad and that’s a whole other discussion.

The lesson I tried to teach my daughter is one I have tried to teach myself and others I have had the pleasure of mentoring and counseling, just because some one is in a position of authority doesn’t mean they deserve to have power over you. No one deserves to have power over you.

The other lesson I have learned and now share is that if some one in authority or a peer is going to influence you, it better be in the name of progress, ideally it should have a positive outcome. If you are confronted by a de-motivational or un-inspirational force, step away and step back. If it’s your boss or teacher, you have choices; you can do something about it and you can choose not to be influenced in a negative way.

Feeling powerless is the worse state of mind you can inflict upon your self, if it creeps up, take a very hard look at it, stop it in its heels and look at the source. Self respect and feeling your power are the things that propel us to greatness. Choosing to feel your power is the first step to finding it.

Ok, this is definitely a blog fueled by a bit of a rant, isn’t that how they all got started?

Bottom line, if you are afraid to stand up for your self and go against the grain, remember this; it’s better to fail in the face of your own power than some one else’s. Many great accomplishments fall on the heals of failure, we can’t be afraid of it, it’s just better if it comes on your own terms not some one elses. Good to note, some times your first attempt at something you fear is your best attempt of all.

I am compelled to talk about a term in recruiting called “Stopping to Pick Up Shiny Objects”, it refers to when you are targeting candidates for a specific role and you get distracted by “other” great candidates along the way. It also relates nicely to any one who is setting out to find something, anything at all. 

It reminds me of classic children’s stories when the mother sends her child out the door and says, “Now go straight to grandma’s, don’t doddle or stop to talk to strangers”. We all know how the story goes, the child then stops frequently to ask for directions and meets and greets a myriad of strangers, heading  into all sorts of adventures and trouble. Along the way, lessons are learned, lives are saved and personal growth is fostered.  Here, in the twists of fate present in stories like Little Red Riding Hood and The Wizard of Oz, its all about the journey.

 As a hybrid recruiter/business developer, I have to confess that detours are often how I discover new clients, prospective candidates and eventually my candidate. I keep focused enough to state what I am looking for in my conversations, but I always welcome the chance to hear about their professional pursuits and request referrals. Yes, at times I have wandered too far off my path, but over the past 12 years; I have developed pretty good big bad wolf radar.

 Here’s where the Twists of Fate and Random Acts of Kindness come in. It seems to me that if you are intent on finding something you always do, intention is more than half the battle and many people forget that.

 For example, if along the way to finding a Director of E-Commerce, you find an Architect, a Product Manager and a UX Designer; as long as you are intent on finding an E-commerce Director you will. The whole aspect of 6 degrees of separation always plays in here, and each person whom you connect with along the way will often lead you to some one else, who will eventually lead you to your destiny. With good intentions, and taking the time to offer advice and listen, you often get more than just your golden treasure. By creating a flow of sorts, you end up opening all kinds of doors. Small and sometimes random acts of kindness along the way set every one on their path.

 Here’s how it plays out, the UX designer whose resume you critiqued interviews with a product manager, it goes so well that they digress and get to chatting, your search comes up and the product manager asks for your coordinates because he has an old boss whose looking. The next day, you get a call and a LinkedIn request; it’s your E-Commerce person. Months later as he gets up and running, you client is happy, your candidate is too and now they call and ask you to find them product managers and UX designers. There you have it, the meanderings, the stops along the way to pick up shiny objects, the twists of fate and random acts of kindness, calls, e-mails, Tweets and RTs all play an important part in getting you where you need to be. 

 The moral of the story? Don’t be afraid of the big bad wolf, intend not to run into him, get to grandmas and enjoy every step along the way,because there will be more than just a hot apple pie when you get there.

 Oh yes and, “Toto, sometimes we aren’t in Kansas any more”.

After completing an online course delivered by The Gabriel Institute about Role Based Assessments https://www.thegabrielinstitute.com.
I became aware of just how crucial it is to hire based on a candidate’s overall fit for the team they are joining.

There are so many factors above and beyond skills to consider.
What stage of growth is the company in? What part does this team play in the company’s success? How does the current team interact with each other currently and what are the gaps that need to be addressed to ensure short and long term success? Where are their strengths and weaknesses as individuals? What roles to they play in-terms of how they work together? What are the missing links that will optimize the team’s productivity and ensure long lasting success?

These factors above and beyond skill are beyond important to examine and understand? A job description should really be the result of an in-depth needs analysis that reveals who is required first and what skills are required second.

I spend so much time asking clients to reveal these details to me.
Often, I don’t get answers from them directly. Let me stress that at large, I am a contingency recruiter.

Based on the fact that 58% of all executives fail within the first 6 months of being hired, I have to say that the cost of hire often impacts P&L negatively. Looking at internal recruiters and human resource professionals, who more often than not, will not gather this kind of information, or will face resistance to acquire this kind of information. I would suggest that the responsibility to turn recruiting into a profit center rests on this very department and its ability to educate and enlighten its clients.

In Human Resources and Recruitment’s defence, hiring managers are notorious for dismissing recruiting partners when approached to learn more about the roles they are asked to fill. Often they will sit down and draft a set of skills, requirements and qualifications necessary for the job and e-mail them in-order to have the position they have open “filled”. As a result, agencies and internal recruiters comb their networks for skills, and sadly for key words that fit the bill. And, when the hire doesn’t work out or as we say, “falls off”; who takes the blame?? I don’t need to answer that.

One thing I have learned is that, if I can’t get the information from the hiring manager or the human resources people I am working with. I will research current employees and learn from them as much as I can about the team I am focused upon as well as the personalities across that team and its surrounding organization. I would urge any candidate who is looking at a new role to do the same if “fit related” information is unavailable to them.

In assessing your next hire based on fit and how they will impact the team they are joining, we may be able to improve upon these alarming statistics*
40 % of all new managers fail in 18 months
46% of all hires must be classified as failures
58% of all executives fail at their job
65% of all people lie on their resumes
2/3 of all hiring managers regret the hires they make
Moving forward, skills can be taught and learned, so if the fit is right; I urge you to consider the benefits of this kind of contribution first and skills second.

Over and Out
CJ

The dot com boom was created by many factors. My favourite was the direct correlation between the increased consumption of stronger specialty coffees out of Seattle and California and the growth of new ventures and dot com millionaires from the same areas. After my own consumption increased during that time, I stumbled upon countless stories and articles where team and individual successes where in part attributed to caffeine. What a buzz.

Y2K paid for a lot of mortgages and launched many people’s careers. I have fond memories of riding the wave, or rather spending through the wave. Our pony tailed IT Manager at Bassett Laudi coached us on how to prepare for Y2K. Given the inevitable chaos to come, he told us to stock up on water and have a generator handy.

To avoid the looming doom, my young family and I headed down to Isla des Mujeres in Mexico. We took part in the beach side parties and events that heralded a new year, significant not only because of the millennium but because of the island’s northern point being aligned with the planets in such a way that beach combers from as far as Australia came to take part in whatever shift was occurring at sun rise.

Although I can’t say I felt the planetary alignments, I did feel a great sense of relief to note the calm with which we entered into 2000.

We all know what followed; it’s been written and journalised to death. To hi-light the obvious, we saw the dot com implosion, the horrors of 9-11, the devastation of 04′s Tsunami, the demise of Bush’s administration, conspiracy perspectives brought to us by the likes of Al Gore and Michael Moore, market tragedies brought to a head by Shearson Lehman Bros, huge expansions of our global “Green” consciousness, the departures of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett and last but not least Obama and “Obama-isms”, many of which made the new Oxford Dictionary. Let’s not even get into Tiger Woods?

Looking back, I’d say it’s been a packed decade. I can’t imagine any worse or any better in terms of the highs and lows. There are all kinds of prophecies about 2012 being the end of how we know the world; from Mayan cultures to Nostradamus. The projections I read about 2010 are fairly tame, nothing alarming. All are related to economic recovery, new political landscapes and overall stabilization initiatives as precautionary measures to ensure we reduce fluctuations and the pains of our previous cycles. Perhaps raising interest rates will put some more houses on the market and increase the costs of borrowing, but that’s to be expected.

Having survived a few battles over the past decade, I can’t help but feel a little apprehensive of the plateau that we thinking is ahead for 2010. What will it mean in terms of making a living? What are the real benefits of stabilization? What about all of the unemployed left in the tail winds of last year’s recession, will they all start new ventures or become consultants? Will the “green” movement BOOM in the next decade, will emerging technology practitioners shift their gazes to the new sector? There’s bound to be some shockers ahead.

My recollections of candidate and client reports from Western US visits in ‘99 were filled exclamations like “every Bill Board has a .com address” and “even kids have cell phones” . Looking back, I’m sure analysts are having fun trying to plot out where we’ll take ourselves moving towards 2020.

Here’s to a new decade!

CJ
*http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2008/04/08/starbucks_economy/index.html
*http://www.bus.wisc.edu/nielsencenter/research/brandcoffeejcr-7.pdf