My blog has linked up with Meettheboss.tv to broaded your view of the executive suite and the impact that HR has on company profits, innovation, and strategy. This is a significant step forward for my blog to expand your vision into the executive suite and to gather first hand information on the CEO experience.
To access Meet the Boss go to http://www.meettheboss.tv/
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
New Trends In Hiring
Organizations are planning to increase hiring as the economy recovers but are making significant changes to their recruitment strategies according to research from Job Search Television Network (JSTN), a leading video and social media based recruiting company. Cuts to recruiting staffs and budgets during the recession have resulted in a greater emphasis on lower cost, efficient technological solutions. The report notes increasingly targeted use of social media in the recruitment process.
Roger Stanton, CEO of Job Search Television Network, commented:
"LinkedIn and Facebook with links to video has been hot for a while, but now we’re seeing clients ‘micro-target’ employees using niche blogs and LinkedIn groups. For example, one of our clients successfully uses niche blogs to locate workers with very specific types of financial service backgrounds. They started doing this when a new blog showed up on JSTN’s client metric report. When they posted a video to the blog, it quickly became a ‘home run’. Clients are finding sites they weren’t aware of because JSTN’s video provides highly detailed traffic metrics and they can make changes on the fly."
The study also considered the proportion of viewers who go on to apply for the position advertised.
Roger Stanton explained: "We will usually see an enormous spike in viewership for a position right after a video is placed on websites and social media. With clients hitting average conversion rates of viewers to applicants around 18.8 per cent, the video is far exceeding other sources. In some cases, the conversion rate is as high 45 per cent! That can mean thousands of people have seen the video for a job, at very little cost to the employer and it provides very powerful employment branding. The candidates who do apply are more likely to be a more qualified fit for the job, since they’ve seen the video and have responded based on the compelling information they have viewed."
The study found renewed interest in Employment Referral Programs (ERP) in the recruitment process, but again with a different emphasis.
"The idea of ERP programs is coming back in a big way, because it is so much faster and cheaper if you can get a referral from your current employees. The difference this time is that since e-mail readership is going down, particularly among younger employees who prefer social media, companies are using video messaging. The video can be placed on a company’s Facebook page, blogs, etc. and is far more likely to get watched and sent to friends via mobile phones. And again, the traffic results can be closely tracked for ROI [return on investment] purposes."
The study identified mobile phones as the third major trend in hiring for 2010.
"We knew when payment systems started being developed for cell phones that mobile would replace computers as the center of our digital lives. This is why JSTN was created with the ability to TEXT ID videos to mobile phones. Now with smart phones penetrating the market at exponential rates, we’re seeing this really take off. Looking forward, research states that by 2014, over 66 per cent of all mobile data traffic will be video [Cisco Visual Networking Index: Forecast and Methodology, 2009 - 2014]. One of our clients regularly sends job videos to prospects on cell phones with amazing results. Not only does the receiver actually view the video, they also usually forward it to numerous contacts in their network. The video quickly goes viral."
Roger Stanton concluded: "What these trends point to is that we are truly becoming a video-centric society, with much of that centering on mobile phones. Companies are recognizing that if they want to reach prospective hires, this is where they need to be. And with tight budgets, its not surprising they would turn to these technologies now to reach new candidate pools at low cost while maintaining professional identity. As we come into the fall hiring season, which will ramp up in earnest right after Labor Day, you’ll really see these trends as play out in the workplace."
What changes have you made in your hiring practices? Drop me a line at wgstevens2@gmail.com
Roger Stanton, CEO of Job Search Television Network, commented:
"LinkedIn and Facebook with links to video has been hot for a while, but now we’re seeing clients ‘micro-target’ employees using niche blogs and LinkedIn groups. For example, one of our clients successfully uses niche blogs to locate workers with very specific types of financial service backgrounds. They started doing this when a new blog showed up on JSTN’s client metric report. When they posted a video to the blog, it quickly became a ‘home run’. Clients are finding sites they weren’t aware of because JSTN’s video provides highly detailed traffic metrics and they can make changes on the fly."
The study also considered the proportion of viewers who go on to apply for the position advertised.
Roger Stanton explained: "We will usually see an enormous spike in viewership for a position right after a video is placed on websites and social media. With clients hitting average conversion rates of viewers to applicants around 18.8 per cent, the video is far exceeding other sources. In some cases, the conversion rate is as high 45 per cent! That can mean thousands of people have seen the video for a job, at very little cost to the employer and it provides very powerful employment branding. The candidates who do apply are more likely to be a more qualified fit for the job, since they’ve seen the video and have responded based on the compelling information they have viewed."
The study found renewed interest in Employment Referral Programs (ERP) in the recruitment process, but again with a different emphasis.
"The idea of ERP programs is coming back in a big way, because it is so much faster and cheaper if you can get a referral from your current employees. The difference this time is that since e-mail readership is going down, particularly among younger employees who prefer social media, companies are using video messaging. The video can be placed on a company’s Facebook page, blogs, etc. and is far more likely to get watched and sent to friends via mobile phones. And again, the traffic results can be closely tracked for ROI [return on investment] purposes."
The study identified mobile phones as the third major trend in hiring for 2010.
"We knew when payment systems started being developed for cell phones that mobile would replace computers as the center of our digital lives. This is why JSTN was created with the ability to TEXT ID videos to mobile phones. Now with smart phones penetrating the market at exponential rates, we’re seeing this really take off. Looking forward, research states that by 2014, over 66 per cent of all mobile data traffic will be video [Cisco Visual Networking Index: Forecast and Methodology, 2009 - 2014]. One of our clients regularly sends job videos to prospects on cell phones with amazing results. Not only does the receiver actually view the video, they also usually forward it to numerous contacts in their network. The video quickly goes viral."
Roger Stanton concluded: "What these trends point to is that we are truly becoming a video-centric society, with much of that centering on mobile phones. Companies are recognizing that if they want to reach prospective hires, this is where they need to be. And with tight budgets, its not surprising they would turn to these technologies now to reach new candidate pools at low cost while maintaining professional identity. As we come into the fall hiring season, which will ramp up in earnest right after Labor Day, you’ll really see these trends as play out in the workplace."
What changes have you made in your hiring practices? Drop me a line at wgstevens2@gmail.com
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Inspiring Others
American business people are uninspired. Are you surprised? Don't be. According to a recent Maritz
Research poll the fact is that only ten percent of the work force look forward to going to work; and most point to alack of leadership as the reason for this. "But it doesn't have to be that way. All business leaders have the power to inspire, motivate, and positively influence the people in their professional lives," according to a recent story in Business Week Online.
Inspiring others should be an aspiration of leaders. We do not live in a vacuum or lead in a vacuum, so the
way we use our influence is important. Motivation is a closely related action that is usually a result of good
leadership skills and influence. Inspiration is an interesting concept. To inspire means to stimulate someone to do something, or to provoke a particular feeling. It can also mean to cause some form of creative activity. My favorite meaning to the word inspire is to breathe in. In essence, when we inspire others we are breathing into them the influence and factors that will cause them to become a better form of who they presently are. The opposite of inspire is expire. It may be a stretch, but when we use our influence in destructive ways, even unintentionally, it may literally “kill” someone’s motivation and creativity and desire to become better.
When working around great leaders I have found that they have a way of inspiring others through their
leadership behaviors, management tasks and compelling communication. Communications coach and author
Carmine Gallo, in his new book, Fire Them Up!, reveals basic skills common to the leaders who best know how to inspire their employees, colleagues, customers, and investors. The book is a great study of techniques needed to lead organizations and inspire teams to perform at a higher level. After studying their communication "secrets", Gallo came up with seven skills that he believes can easily be adopted to your own professional communications:
Research poll the fact is that only ten percent of the work force look forward to going to work; and most point to alack of leadership as the reason for this. "But it doesn't have to be that way. All business leaders have the power to inspire, motivate, and positively influence the people in their professional lives," according to a recent story in Business Week Online.
Inspiring others should be an aspiration of leaders. We do not live in a vacuum or lead in a vacuum, so the
way we use our influence is important. Motivation is a closely related action that is usually a result of good
leadership skills and influence. Inspiration is an interesting concept. To inspire means to stimulate someone to do something, or to provoke a particular feeling. It can also mean to cause some form of creative activity. My favorite meaning to the word inspire is to breathe in. In essence, when we inspire others we are breathing into them the influence and factors that will cause them to become a better form of who they presently are. The opposite of inspire is expire. It may be a stretch, but when we use our influence in destructive ways, even unintentionally, it may literally “kill” someone’s motivation and creativity and desire to become better.
When working around great leaders I have found that they have a way of inspiring others through their
leadership behaviors, management tasks and compelling communication. Communications coach and author
Carmine Gallo, in his new book, Fire Them Up!, reveals basic skills common to the leaders who best know how to inspire their employees, colleagues, customers, and investors. The book is a great study of techniques needed to lead organizations and inspire teams to perform at a higher level. After studying their communication "secrets", Gallo came up with seven skills that he believes can easily be adopted to your own professional communications:
- Demonstrate enthusiasm constantly
- Articulate a compelling course of action
- Sell the benefit
- Tell more stories so people relate to the realness of it
- Invite participation
- Reinforce an optimistic outlook
- Encourage potential
Continuous learning opportunities, executive coaching and small group interactions regarding ongoing work
will promote higher achievement in the team. Creating an environment in which the team members are expressing their potential and continuously learning and improving can only affect the culture and deliverables for the better.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Do You Have A Crisis Management Plan
There has been little discussion on the Internet and print media about crisis management. When you look at how BOA, Merrill Lynch, and the banks handled the media during the financial crisis you would expect that these big firms would have had a crisis management plan.
Crisis management planning is an integral part of business today, big or small. I can tell you from first hand experience and I do not mean business continuity planning. So let me tell you a little story. Back in 1988 or early 89 to quickly summarize, the Boston area was rocked by a young 8 month pregnant woman who was killed by a so called black man in her car where she was a passenger after coming from Lamaze classes . Also wounded in this tragic murder was the girls husband who told police it was a black man that entered their car to rob them and shot his wife and him. Well if you were reading the papers or the Today Show you would have heard about this terrible incident. The person who was murdered was Carol Stuart, an employee of mine in Newton, MA.
Back to crisis management. There was an immediate meeting with the VP, HR and hi directs on what to do, we corded off the building from reporters, sent out an immediate email to all employees and made sure that the media only spoke to one (1) person from the company. Needless to say at that time we did not have a director of communications or PR person. The reasoning behind this was to protect our employees from the media and to make sure there was a consistent message to the press. In the end, our crisis management plan worked and it saved the company from undue scrutiny, protected the employees, and managed the benefits flow to the widow/family.
Again, if you remember the case 3 months later it was found out that the husband killed his spouse for the life insurance money because the family business (Kakass Furs) was in financial trouble. Needless to say having paid the husband the life insurance claim was a mistake and since that time the carrier now requires a final police record of a case before payment is determined.
Last but not least if you do not have a crisis management plan you should. HR should be at the forefront of this along with the head of communications, or PR, along with the CEO.
Crisis management planning is an integral part of business today, big or small. I can tell you from first hand experience and I do not mean business continuity planning. So let me tell you a little story. Back in 1988 or early 89 to quickly summarize, the Boston area was rocked by a young 8 month pregnant woman who was killed by a so called black man in her car where she was a passenger after coming from Lamaze classes . Also wounded in this tragic murder was the girls husband who told police it was a black man that entered their car to rob them and shot his wife and him. Well if you were reading the papers or the Today Show you would have heard about this terrible incident. The person who was murdered was Carol Stuart, an employee of mine in Newton, MA.
Back to crisis management. There was an immediate meeting with the VP, HR and hi directs on what to do, we corded off the building from reporters, sent out an immediate email to all employees and made sure that the media only spoke to one (1) person from the company. Needless to say at that time we did not have a director of communications or PR person. The reasoning behind this was to protect our employees from the media and to make sure there was a consistent message to the press. In the end, our crisis management plan worked and it saved the company from undue scrutiny, protected the employees, and managed the benefits flow to the widow/family.
Again, if you remember the case 3 months later it was found out that the husband killed his spouse for the life insurance money because the family business (Kakass Furs) was in financial trouble. Needless to say having paid the husband the life insurance claim was a mistake and since that time the carrier now requires a final police record of a case before payment is determined.
Last but not least if you do not have a crisis management plan you should. HR should be at the forefront of this along with the head of communications, or PR, along with the CEO.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Organizational Change
Let's say you need to move your business in a new direction. You are hoping the evolve the skill set of your staff, revamp your product and service lineup, and find new ways to partner with those in your industry.
Organizational change is hard. It requires more than just the proper systems, technological savvy and strategic direction. Why? Because it's easy to get a room full of 100 people to clap at a PowerPoint, but difficult to align and balance the needs, fears, motivations, and skills of those 100 people.
Sure, we try to pretend that this doesn't exist. That every employee isn't motivated by logic alone, but perhaps some deeper human emotions. I don't mean that anyone has any ill-will, just that human beings are a funny bunch. And shoving them into a gray cubes and asking them to drink the PowerPoint Kool-Aid doesn't always have the intended results.
Below are some ideas to help organizational change:
So you've done a lot of research, worked through many different strategy ideas, analyzed the technological systems requires to make this change, and come up with a vision for your future. Maybe you've even created a PowerPoint presentation to communicate this change, and scheduled a roadshow to meet with each group in your company to get them on board.
But now, you are a few months into the shift, and finding it tougher to affect change. System roll outs are progressing, senior leadership has been working with you to revamp product and sales offerings, and others in your industry are impressed with your vision. And yet, the change comes more slowly than you would like, and at every turn, you find an entrenched business practice, a team that isn't developing as you had hoped - a ship that can't turn.
Sure, we try to pretend that this doesn't exist. That every employee isn't motivated by logic alone, but perhaps some deeper human emotions. I don't mean that anyone has any ill-will, just that human beings are a funny bunch. And shoving them into a gray cubes and asking them to drink the PowerPoint Kool-Aid doesn't always have the intended results.
Below are some ideas to help organizational change:
- People Want Something To Believe In
- People Want To Be Involved, Not Managed
- Make It Seem Like Their Idea
- Personal Goals Must Be Aligned With Professional Goals
- Make it Easy to Feel A Sense of Achievement
- Make It Fun
So I'll ask you do you do these things in your organization and who leads the change, hopefully the keeper of the culture, the HR leader. Thanks to Dan Blank for some of this information.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Sunday, September 5, 2010
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