Could This Be Trouble?

Recently I have heard from members of the legal profession regarding recomendations that are posted on Linkedin.  The concern is that these postings could be used against a past employer in the event an employee is released from their job.  There is an additional concern that this practice is a violation of a companies printed reference policy (if the policy is to not provide references). 

It seems to me that as social media moves further into the work place that we as employers should re-think the topic of references and how they can be regulated.  If we all end up putting disclaimers on our various sites, does the message become diluted?  Can we change the definition of what constitutes a reference?  It’s worth asking the questions.

There is a common belief that a candidate would never give a bad reference to a prospective employer so why would a recomendation on Linkedin be any different?  We have the opportunity to review the post prior to release.  The person we asked can decline.  So really what does it matter and is this simply another aspect of the world around us being over thought? 

My preference is to take these testimonials for what they are.  Use common sense both when asking for a recomendation and when providing one.  Let’s keep this social and not make it legal.

Accountabilities

Why are people afraid of accountability?  Setting standards is a way of marking progress.  It can be a way of identifying areas of improvement.  Perhaps it simply boils down to a fear of success. 

Being measured is an aspect of life.  Live well!

Must There Always Be Metrics?

The news today is all about the economy and the upcoming elections.  Banking profits are at a sixteen year low.  McCain would prevale over Obama or Clinton if the the elections were held this week.  All of this is substantiated by numbers.

 In turn we focus on our day and the people around us and when things get tough we turn to metrics.  How many calls?  How many contacts?  The list is long and distinguished…………….and the questions are valid.  Without production/ goals we tend to be targetless.  Still, can sheer numbers rule at the close of the day?

 What about relationships?  We have multiple contacts (that is how we meet our production numbers) but are they what we need to be successful.  Recruiters can make a volume of calls and get lucky as can sales people.  Volume does not neccecarily build knowledge and without knowledge can we really own a client? 

 When times are good it is easy to make the calls with little investment.  When the market turns south we really learn about who has built the relationships that are of value and of content.  Making the investment to build relationships can pay in the best of times as well as the worst of times.

A Mile Is Still A Mile, Still

It is suggested that in running a mile that the first person to finish the race is the only person to be rewarded.  While there are medals for second and third, the first place finisher does get the “gold”.  Still, there is more to finishing a race than being the very first to cross the line.  There is first by age or gender at the very least.  More to the point, a person can be running to qualify or are running  against themself and simply running for time.  There were many races that I finished where I was participant on an individual level and was not positioned to win.  But yet I did.  Finishing ninth with a personal best can be viewed as a win.

 In business, not every employee can be the “star”.  There are various levels of achievement and they are matched by the appropriate reward.  More importantly as was pointed out by lisaamorao, managers are not looking for the “one hit wonder” rather we are looking to hire the individual who can create repeatable success.  There is a place for steady performers.  They might not win the President’s award but you can count on them to compile strong numbers month after month and this is what pays the bills that allow companies to grow.

Success is a funny thing………..it can mean different things to different people.  While there is only one Bill Gates there are many successful people out there in the world!

A Mile Is Still A Mile

When I was still competing in track and field the race that I specialized in was the mile.  Four laps around the outdoor track or eight to ten laps indoor depending on the facility.  Still from start to finish we ran a mile.  There were no short cuts and our efforts were out there for all to see.  It seems to me that work in the staffing world is much the same.  A mile is a mile.

 From start to finish, we should always go the distance in order to ensure quality customer service.  If an order is worth taking, work it as if it is golden!  Afford your clients and consultants the best that you have to offer.  Build your conversations into relationships.  Create partnerships.  Invest your time and efforts and show your interest and appreciation.  Just as a runner completes four laps to successfully complete one mile people in staffing must make the effort to complete each and every transaction.  Spectators at the track know a great effort when they see one and our clients know when they have received quality customer service.  A mile is a mile and the finish line has its reward!

Have Telephone?

Are there still telephones in use in the business world?  Are people still talking or is this a keyboard society?  An article in the news today spoke ever increasing number of young people that prefer posting over talking and it makes you wonder just where our social skills are going. 

There are a few of us that still remember doing business before faxes, mobile phones, pagers and even computers came into play.  Business was built on relationships and conversations that were fostered by telephone and in person visits.  Even within the office people would get up and walk to the work area of a peer to ask a question.  Discussion often ensued and relationships were established.  People acted with urgency in that communications were not always quick and in order to meet goals and production standards it was essential to manage time wisely.

 Today we are blessed with time saving tools such as email and IM.  Calls can be made from just about anywhere and at any time.  Faxes can be done from your computer, documents can be scanned and emailed and messages are received on both your phone or computer.  Through the progress of tools we now have more time to accomplish more……or do we?  Is it possible that while we have more time that we are still doing the same amount of work as before?  Could it be that technology has afforded us a more liesurely work pace?  We are all busy but doing what.

Perhaps what is lost is the relationship aspect of our day.  For example, I received an emailed notice that a client is lowering the rates of their suppliers.  It was sent to an out dated corporate name and was done by an individual that we don’t know.  Could this have been prevented by a stronger visit and telephone campaign with this client?  I think so.  The electronic communications have become faceless and it is all to easy for someone to send a notice of rate change via email.  It certainly is harder to explain let alone defend by telephone or in person.  Could this have been prevented or at the least negotiated if we had that stronger relationship?  I think so.

My thought is for people to work the phones on a more aggressive level.  Start talking to your contacts.  Network new contacts.  Set a lunch.  Make a visit.  Start the process by picking up the phone.  I can offer a bunch of reasons for not calling when IM or email is easier but none of them can justify not having the conversational relationship that comes from talking with another person.  Visibility is not a bad thing and the phone is the first step in becoming more visible.

Progress Through Process

Besides inherent talent what makes one person potentially better than another?  Could it be desire?  Or is it an ability to focus on a result?  Having worked for multiple years in the staffing industry I have had the opportunity to work with people of varying levels of interest and success as well as different process’s and proceedures and at the end of the day I place my bet on the individual that has the desire coupled with defined work habits.

 One of my favorite examples of (unlikely) success is that of Wayne Crebet who went from Hofstra University to the New York Jets in the NFL.  Wayne was small and slow by NFL standards and was not perceived as having much of a chance to make the roster by the end of training camp.  Despite the odds, not only did he make the team but he went on to have a tremendously successful professional career.  How?  Why?

 It has been documented that Wayne had a work ethic that far exceeded most.  His desire to play pro ball was as strong as you could ask for.  His willingness build routines and to follow them enabled him to create repeatable successes.  He established goals and built process’s that if followed, would allow for higher results.

In the staffing industry there are those that haven fallen into success and others that have worked for it.  Additionally there are those that just never catch on and drift from position to position and eventually fall out of the industry.  Being able to identify those that are motivated and willing to learn…….become a student of the industry is the first step in building success.  Specifically, being in a position to teach/learn process and proceedure that promote growth becomes the opportunity from which to build.

Understanding that there are days that we are distracted due to illness, family, problem solving is part of the key.  Routines will allow us the ability to work through the obstacles and to still achieve the desired result.  Work with the peaks and valleys of the day/ week so that there is a consistency from which we can operate.  Successful athletes have routines.  Why shouldn’t we?  Being able to utilize the tools and technology that are available to us on a repetitive basis will be the foundation of our success.  It should be a foundation from which we build as we grow not one that provides us with a base level of effort and comfort.  This should be all about how we practice.  Repeat our words and actions so that we can perform in clutch situations and that we offer consistency to our peers and our customers.  Good habits will reward us with results.

Become a student of your chosen profession.  Find a mentor from which you can learn and discuss ways of process and improvement.  Work hard each and every day to build your routines that will provide repeatbale results and always look for ways to improve upon yourself.  Don Shula had indicated that he preferred players with fewer skills but with a burning desire to succeed because he “could teach skills but he couldn’t teach attititude”.  Our skills are meant to be developed and applied on a daily basis.  If applied properly we can all subscribe to progress through process.

Contract Employee Ownership

Just a thought.  As previously discussed, the staffing industry has attempted to institute structure to the sale of contract labor through the use of various tools including contracts.  Suppliers have their own as do the clients and time is spent trying to amend the verbage of each.  To that end, even with a contract do we really own or have rights on what we sell?

Certainly we represent people and would like exclusivity to submit them for an appropriate period of time and attempt to hold agreements such as this.  Realistcally, it’s hard to enforce such an arrangement.  Candidates look for multiple agencies to increase their potential.  Clients do the same.  Large companies have different buying mechanisims and our right to a candidate might be good in one department but not another.  Without the benefit of the knowledge that a staffing firm is getting all orders from their client and in turn can submit a candidate to all appropriate requisitions, it is hard to say that that firm owns the rights to any candidate.

Small to mid-size clients allow staffing firms to rely on relationships to protect their interests but not so in a larger environment.  At best, a staffing firm can submit a candidate on the openings that they currently hold and if that same candidate turns up on another requisition in another department through a competitor, take it for what it is worth and look for ways to penetrate that account further.  It appears that this is not an issue of ownership but rather of relationship (both with the client as well as with the contract employee) as well as an ability to fully develop an account.

At the end of the day a staffing firm will win some as well as lose some and it is how the loses are managed that will dictate the further development of relationships and account penetration!

Staffing as a Solution

Some number of years ago when I first “fell” into the staffing world it looked as if the job was a simple task of matching orders to available talent.  There were few if any contracts, terms were discussed and implemented and the contract employee was put to work.  Simple enough in theory and practical in application.  Work was done for reasons like, maternity leaves, vacation, peak work loads and projects that were facing deadlines.  Throw in that there were projects that entailed work for extended periods of time but not a person on staff once the work was completed and we had reasons for doing business.

 As the staffing industry has progressed, so have the rules of engagement.  Contracts were created by both the staffing firms and their clients.  The process has become much more a formal  start to finish and that is just on the simple vendor to client relationship.  Throw in the VMS (Vendor Managed Services) and now we start to add layers and cost to the process.  Without going overboard, we now can include third party arrangements, off-shore and near-shore options and the menu has become one that can be confusing for companies that are considering/ utilizing staffing as an option.

With all this in mind, I offer one simple thought.  Companies have needs that entail the use of contract labor.  At the end of the day it is about finding the best possible candidate at an appropriate price.  Layering the process can dilute the end result and leave all parties less than satisfied.  Respect the need for what it is and utilize the solution that fits the need.  If we look at this process much like we approach shopping for a new sport shoe I believe that there is a parallel to be found.  Certainly there are different shoes for different sports and I can’t take away from that basic premise but can say that the majority of us can use one shoe for multiple situations.  If I were to go and but a pair of shoes for a spin class but have another pair for weight training and then a pair to jog in but certainly then require another pair to walk to the car and to drive home in and …………….we would need a bigger bag and a fair amount of money.  So has become the idea of staffing as a solution. 

At the end of the day staffing is all about the right candidate at the right price.  If approached in the proper fashion it can be a beneficial process that doesn’t require a heavy amount of structure.  Keeping perspective is a wonderful thing and staffing can still be a positive solution.

Where have all the sales people gone?

Recently I was speaking with a business manager who was frustrated with a perceived lack of sales talent available in the greater bay area. He indicated that in the past 15 months he had hired four new business development types and that all four had turned over with a consistent record of low to no success. His concern is shared by others if I am to take into account the conversations that are appearing on various boards dedicated to hiring as well as conversations with hiring managers and recruiters. Where is the talent and why are companies finding it to be increasingly difficult to retain producers? In my own case, the need is not to find sales types with years of experience, rather I am looking for raw talent and a sense of self motivation. Don Shula, who was known for an ability to produce winning teams year after year summed it up in this fashion. “I can teach skills but I can’t teach attitude.” This is a statement that rings true and is representative of my desire in hiring sales talent. Show me a desire and a willingness to learn and I will teach you the mechanics of successful sales. It is a simple process that only requires the determination and desire of an individual to see a task through from start to success. Perhaps the challange is not a shortage of people but rather the need for instant gratification. In our lives we are able to find, buy or simply obtain what we want in immediate fashion. Sales takes time. Is this simply a question of drawing from a pool that expects and possibly needs a more immediate return? It is a simple question but the answer is perhaps more involved that it has been in the past………….