Viewing February, 2009 Archive

Stress Test Your Employer Brand

Living in Charlotte, I can’t help but be engrossed in the banking crisis.  Afterall, we are the second largest financial center to NYC in the country and my property values are directly tied to these firms making it and not going under!

The recent conversations have been about “stress testing” each bank.  Here’s how McKinsey describes what that means;

to identify, proactively, the bad assets on bank balance sheets, using financial models to project future loan values and loss rates under different economic scenarios.

Using this methodology, couldn’t a company determine if their employment brand was set up to credate future “values” vs. future “losses” in human capital?  Yes, it might sound far fetched but let me run with it for the moment.  Here are some steps to take to Stress Test your employer Brand:

Step 1: Know what it is. 

• Seems simple but many companies have no idea what their employer brand Actually is.  They might know what they WANT it to be, but testing reality takes courage AND tenacity. 
• Survey  new hires “what brought you to XYZ Co.?”, survey at first year anniversary and each year after “what keeps you here at XYZ Co.?” 

Step 2: Distill the brand message to values instead of losses.

• Now take those answers and cross reference them with performance reviews.  What do you find?  
• Are your low performers are telling you they love free soft drinks in the break rooms and the 40 hour work weeks.  Is your brand mistaking this for “work/life balance” in your message and therefore attracting low performers? 
• Are your top performers telling you they love the challenging work and opportunity for advancement?  Is your brand messaging inclusive of these aspects of your culture or are you afriad this message will scare people off?
• Adjust your employer brand message attract the top 1/3 of your performers (based on what they are telling you), not the masses.

Step 3: Get it out there.

• Once you are confident your brand message is targeted at the TOP performers in your company you are ready to get the word out.
• Many people confuse “branding” with “advertising” and they are not the same.  Your brand is a living thing, your company’s DNA and you can’t create an advertising campaign to get the word out, your employees need to be getting it out.
• Corporate blogs, The Vault, Facebook, Linkedin etc.  It’s a social networking world and if your top performers are getting the viral word out that your company is a great place to grow and expand yourself the message is more believable than if your marketing department puts it out.

What do you think?  Have we Stress Tested our employment brand via the McKinsey description?

to identify, proactively, the employer brand messages in use by our company, using competency models and employee feedback to project future human capital attraction rates with a focus on quality under different messaging scenarios.

Hey it’s Friday, what else do you have to think about this weekend?

Cheers!

The Oscars – Extreme Branding for Job Seekers

As I watched the annual parade of glam last night, it dawned on me that each and every one of the movie stars is an extreme brand manager.  In any economy, job holders and job seekers should take notice of how these folks manage their personal brands because, like in Hollywood, it really is all you have to offer.

Top 5 tips from Hollywood’s Extreme Brand Managers: 

Dress.  “Who are you wearing” may not be something that you hear in interviews or after a particularly rousing corporate presentation but it IS noticed by people, some who count and some who don’t.  Presentation is one key to Personal Branding.

Pride.  Being proud can be a slippery slope.  It can escalate you to the front of the pack or relegate you to forever bringing up the rear.  The key in Hollywood is that actors are proud of the “work” not of themselves (for the most part).  Speaking proudly of the work your teams have accomplished in the past is a great way to stand out in a crowd.

Humility.  The balance to #2 is humility.  Being humble is a parallel slope to Pride.  If you are to humble and never speak of YOUR accomplishments you may come off as a coat tail rider.  Be sure to speak proudly of your team’s accomplishments and also of your unique contribution to the organization’s success.

Grace.  I’m always impressed with the Red Carpet ride these stars take and that they are willing to speak to people like Ryan Seacrest and Joan Rivers.  At each interview stop they smile, answer truly inane questions and always thank the microphone monkey as if it was a fantastic experience.  Leaving everyone feeling positive about your interactions with them is one of the fastest ways to get or stay employed.

Gratitude.  Ok, so thanking a handwritten list of everyone who’s ever been part of your career (like some did last night) can come off as contrived, being grateful for those who have made an impact on you and letting them know regularly is crucial.  Read “regularly” because being grateful only when you get laid off (and start re-connecting with everyone in your network because you need them) is the antithesis of gratitude.

I think the greatest job seeker lesson from the Academy Awards last night lies in Slumdog Millionaire taking the night with 8 Oscars.  Why?  Because there were no Brad Pitts, no Meryl Streeps and no Batman special effects.  It was a medium budget foreign film with children and teenagers as stars. 

Proof that success lies, not in what you see and expect, but in what you can imagine and create.

Monster.com – Wrong end of the Moose

Many of you are aware that, for the second time in 18 months, Monster’s database was compromised.  This time the personal information of 1.2 million job seekers was stolen, in 2007 it was the username and passwords of legitimate Recruiters. 

According to the dictionary;

Hack; to damage or injure by crude, harsh, or insensitive treatment; mutilate; mangle:

Using this definition of HACK; we can safely say that Monster’s inability to secure the sensitive data of jobs seekers and paying customers has created the “follow on” hacks below: 

They hacked the confidence of millions of job seekers and paying customers world wide

They hacked the job board industry by creating distrust in eRecruitment

They hacked the hopes and dreams of millions of job seekers who will now get phishing emails instead of bona fide communications for employment

They hacked a percentage of these job seekers lives because they will naively give personal information to criminals who call or email them based on this stolen data

They hacked  customers in 2007 when they used the breach of their database as the reason to squeeze hundreds of thousands of additional license revenue out of us, saying that it was OUR fault for sharing passwords!

 And finally, another definition of HACK from the dictionary – this time in reference to the person who made the decision to spend $3 Million on a Superbowl ad instead of on additional security measures:

Hack
Noun;
1. A person who engages in an activity without talent or skills

Enjoy the humor, marvel at the irony!

Un-Stimulating

Today, our new President signs a “stimulus” package with the hopes of the entire country riding on its back.  However, I’m not sure exactly how stimulating these programs are to the millions of people out of work or in fear of being there soon.

Apparently, sometime this summer, those of us lucky enough to still have jobs will begin receiving some direct benefit from the tax cut part of the package.  About $13 a week.  Now I don’t live in a McMansion nor do I live in a trailer down by the river but c’mon, $13 a week?  This is supposed to get me out and spending again?  My guess is that most of us will be so mired in other stuff in June that this “increase” will arrive with zero fanfare or even modest notice.  $13 a week buys me what?  Lunch by myself?  Enough gas for the week? 2 beers plus tip at my local pub?  I’m not sure what our Politicians were thinking when they all sat around and said “yes, that’s it – $13 a week”.  Chances are we could have made it $50 a week if they agreed to cut their own spending like they are forcing Banking Execs to do.

My Favorite “Stimulus Package” was put forth late last year.  Here’s a copy of a real “make sense” stimulus package and how it might work:

Something that makes good sense:
I’m against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG.
 
Instead, I’m in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in
a We Deserve It Dividend.
 
To make the math simple, let’s assume there are 200,000,000
bonafide U.S. Citizens 18+.

Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman
and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up..

So divide 200 million adults 18+  into $85 billion that equals $425,000.00.

My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a
“We Deserve It Dividend”.

Of course, it would NOT be tax free.
So let’s assume a tax rate of 30%.

Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes.
That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam.

But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket.
A husband and wife has $595,000.00.

What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family?

Pay off your mortgage – housing crisis solved.
Repay college loans – what a great boost to new grads
Put away money for college – it’ll be there
Save in a bank – create money to loan to entrepreneurs.
Buy a new car – create jobs
Invest in the market – capital drives growth
Pay for your parent’s medical insurance – health care improves
Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean – or else

Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+  including the folks
who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company
that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces.
If we’re going to re-distribute wealth let’s really do it…instead of trickling out
a puny $1000.00 ( “vote buy” ) economic incentive that is being proposed by one of our candidates for President.

If we’re going to do an $85 billion bailout, let’s bail out every adult U S Citizen 18+!
As for AIG – liquidate it.
Sell off its parts.
Let American General go back to being American General.
Sell off the real estate.
Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.
Here’s my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn’t.

Sure  it’s a crazy idea that can “never work.”
But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party!
How do you spell Economic Boom?
I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion
We Deserve It Dividend  more than  do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC.
And remember, The Birk plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5 Billion is returned
instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam.
Ahhh…I feel so much better getting that off my chest.
Kindest personal regards,
Birk
T. J. Birkenmeier, A Creative Guy & Citizen of the Republic

Friday Humor

This one’s for Joe and Art at the barbershop – two avid readers;

These individual quotes were reportedly taken from actual employee performance evaluations in a large US Corporation.

1. “Since my last report, this employee has reached rock bottom…..and has started to dig.”

2. “His men would follow him anywhere…but only out of morbid curiosity.”

3. “I would not allow this employee to breed.”

4. “This employee is really not so much of a ‘has-been’, but more of a definite ‘won’t be’.”

5. “Works well when under constant supervision and cornered like a rat in a trap.”

6. “When she opens her mouth, it seems that it is only to change feet.”

7. “He would be out of his depth in a parking lot puddle.”

8. “This young lady has delusions of adequacy.”

9. “He sets low personal standards and then consistently fails to achieve them.”

10. “This employee is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot.”

11. “This employee should go far…and the sooner he starts, the better.”

12. “Got a full 6-pack, but lacks the plastic thing to hold it all together.”

13. “A gross ignoramus – 144 times worse than an ordinary ignoramus.”

14. “He certainly takes a long time to make his pointless.”

15. “He doesn’t have ulcers, but he’s a carrier.”

16. “I would like to go hunting with him sometime.”

17. “He’s been working with glue too much.”

18. “He would argue with a signpost.”

19. “He has a knack for making strangers immediately.”

20. “He brings a lot of joy whenever he leaves the room.”

21. “When his IQ reaches 50, he should sell.”

22. “If you see two people talking and one looks bored…he’s the other one.”

23. “A photographic memory but with the lens cover glued on.”

24. “A prime candidate for natural de-selection.”

25. “Donated his brain to science before he was done using it.”

26. “Gates are down, the lights are flashing, but the train isn’t coming.”

27. “Has two brains: one is lost and the other is out looking for it.”

28. “If he were any more stupid, he’d have to be watered twice a week.”

29. “If you give him a penny for his thoughts, you’d get change.”

30. “If you stand close enough to him, you can hear the oceans.”

31. “It’s hard to believe that he beat 1,000,000 other sperm to the egg.”

32. “One neuron short of a synapse.”

33. “Some drink from the fountain of knowledge; he only gargled.”

34. “Takes him 2 hours to watch 60 minutes.”

35. “The wheel is turning, but the hamster is dead.”

Have a great weekend!

It’s a Hard Job

How do you view the profession of Recruiting?  Grab a mirror and get your “Stewart Smalley” on because we’re about to search your soul as a Recruiter.

In my travels to companies as Director of AllianceQ, I often hear this objection when we present our solution;

How is your system going to help me find my double PhD, Biomechanical Nuclear Physicist? (or fill in any other absolute needle in a haystack profile for your industry)

My answer is always the same;

How do you find them today?

Answer: research lists, cold calls, lots of networking and hard core headhunting

Then THAT is how you are going to find them in the future.

It seems that many Corporate Recruiters are searching for easier ways to source difficult profiles and that search will always be in vain.  You see, Recruiting is a HARD JOB, or at least it should be.

Before the internet, the only way we found anyone was through a very tough and arduous process of cold calling, phone book research and faxing job descriptions.  Then the internet and eRecruitment was born and I think many recruiters have come to rely on the “ease” of internet recruiting to their ultimate demise.

If I ran the world (which I won’t because frankly I’d rather be sailing) Recruiters would be as revered in an organization as the top sales people are.  Why not, their job is just as tough and they contribute as significantly to the bottom line right?  Well, in “Phil-land” they would.  Here’s how.

I’d create a pyramid picture of the roles my department fills every year.  The broad base at the bottom are those repetitive, high turnover roles.  For every industry these are different but they are there in EVERY industry.  Then I’d move up to the next level where we are looking to fill the roles regularly but less frequently and then up to difficult and frequent then to impossible and frequent and then to impossible and infrequent and so on.  You get my drift.

Now anyone with a “Recruiter” title would never touch the bottom few job families in my world.  Instead, I’d find a way to automate that process (yes, it can be done) and allow my Recruiting Assistants to process these people.  I’d then take my now freed up Recruiters (who are dying to get on the phone and pull that needle out of that HUGE haystack) and make them heroes in the company by doing what Executives believe only Korn Ferry and Heidrick and Struggles can do.

I may not have slashed my headcount spend because what I’d save in not paying a bunch of low level Recruiters, I’d redistribute to my now Rock Star Recruiters in the way of retention bonuses, organizational impact bonuses etc. and I’d have a team made up of the best in the country because I’d be paying them like headhunters.

Many of you believe this can’t be done.  I’m not sure why.  Perhaps it is because you came into the industry after it was made easy by the internet, perhaps you believe that “recruiting” is a noun and not a verb.  Either way, these are times of change and I hope you’ll find the courage to re-create Recruiting, not just as a verb but as a very hard job occupied by really great salespeople who love the fight and can sell your company to your biggest competitor.

Recruiting will hopefully be a hard job again one day soon.

Wing Space

“None of us is as good as all of us.” – Ray Kroc – Founder of McDonald’s.

As I sit on this US Airways flight from Charlotte, NC to La Guardia today (knowing I have a return tomorrow the other direction) I can’t help but think of US Airways Flight 1549.
This is the famed “Sully” Sullenberger flight that was the only successful ditching of a commercial jetliner on record.  All 155 passengers and crew made it out safely.  For those of you not living in Charlotte or NYC, it may have simply been an interesting distraction from the tanking economy.

To those of us in Charlotte – it is lore.

We asked ourselves for days “how did they do it?”  How did everyone walk out onto the wing in 41 degree water and survive to be interviewed on 60 minutes?  Like many of you, I’ve scoffed at the mention of “your seat cushion can also be used for a floatation device”, figuring that when the time comes that I’m on a plane being ditched into a body of water, I’m kissing this life goodbye.
Not true I guess. 

You see, the power of “WE” is always greater than the power of “ME”.

What the crew and passengers did that afternoon was to work togther in a calm and orderly fashion to ensure everyone was safe and out of that plane before it swamped in the Hudson.
Professional air crew and professional bankers stood shoulder to shoulder and took control and at times, took orders without ego or preconceived notions of self getting in the way.  Amazing!  That people can come together and create miracles (the flight is called “Miracle on the Hudson”) is nothing short of inspiring.

So why don’t we read more amazing stories of collaboration in the pages of the paper or web about people casting off what they know and believe and simply “acting” in harmony?  Because many consider life to be a zero sum game.  This means that if you have it, I can’t have it and visa versa.  So we hoard and protect and compete for perceived “scarce” resources. 

Fortunately or unfortunately it takes a moment of life or death for most people to realize this is not true; that life is full of abundance if we only believe it to be so.  The crew and passengers of Flight 1549 certainly believed there was enough “wing space” for all of them to get out of the plane and out there on those wings

So the question begs to be asked; do you believe there is enough “wing space” for everyone?

Whether you are out of work and looking for a job or are lucky enough to have a job and are being bombarded by “networking” friends and relatives, are you doing all you can to make sure there’s enough “Wing space” for everyone?

If you are a Recruiter and you can’t personally help a candidate, are you taking the time to look for ways help them?

In times of difficulty will you make room on the wing?