Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Forbes Article on CB's 2010 hiring outlook survey. Feed the sheeple some more mush, guys.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/halahtouryalai/2011/12/28/2012s-job-opportunities-wont-be-much-better/

YMMV.  Yet another useless article on the employment market. People, not companies, hire people, and only when the hire does at least 1 of 3 things - Makes Money, Saves Money, and most importantly, Solves a Problem.  Wonder why so many people don't get hired in a down economy?  It's really simple - the decision maker cannot see clearly any one of the three reasons for the hire.

Ask the Headhunter

Today and tomorrow, 12/28 and 12/29 between 9 and 4 Central time, we're running our annual open Call-In "Ask the Headhunter".  This is a more casual environment than your typical interaction with a Recruiter.  It's another way for us to help people, and give back, setting a positive tone for the upcoming new year.  Call in number is 815-929-1900 x 11.


A new year is a fresh start.  You have new goals, a new outlook, a chance to refine, or even reinvent! Time for a resume refresh?  Time to enhance or simplify your interviewing style?  Time to change your networking strategy? We can bounce these ideas and more around with you.


Whether you're on the Hiring end of the spectrum or the Looking end of the spectrum, take advantage of this free resource.  
Eric 
www.myersgroupinc.com

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Surveying the Team

Surveying the Team: 
Remember all of those goals you set for 2012 in the last month or 2?  Now you've got to get there.

There are a lot of companies ‘re-architecting’ their teams now.   The most interesting trend I’m seeing in that regard is a significant change in the Best Practice of Force Ranking.  

This labor landscape is radically different today than it was even 6 months ago.  This economy is brutal and it’s hard on people.   Which role is most critical?  Which player is strongest?  Who is moving ahead and who is falling behind?   More of the same just isn’t an option according to the people I talk with…too much at stake.

This is a collection of what I’m hearing from the best run businesses:
Force Ranking Your Team.  The exercise starts with taking an objective 30,000 foot look at the group you lead, including yourself. 
  • Which roles are the MOST critical, and which are the least. 
  • Is the MOST important role handled by the BEST player in the industry?  Are you sure?  
  • Are any of the top half of the critical roles being handled by a weak link?  
  • Why is that link weak?  Is it a development position and an intentional choice?
  • What have you done in the last month to improve that person in that role? 
  • More importantly, what has that person done on their own in the last month to improve?
  • What happens (or doesn’t happen) if someone in the top tier leaves?



Top Talent - listen up! 
  • This is not a time for politics – OWN your space and make sure your boss knows you’re controlling your destiny.  Honestly rank yourself and your peer group or team, as if you were your boss...what do you see? Do a SWOT analysis on your career.


If you’re thinking about the architecture of the people running the business, feel free to reach out and we’ll be more than happy to help you benchmark.  The unique point of view that a niched search consultant gets is one of the biggest values we bring our clients and our candidates.  Without breaching confidentiality we can give you insight into the skills, experience, education, salary, and importantly talent attraction techniques that build world class teams.