Thoughts on people, teams, organizations, communities, effectiveness and success
In Pareto’s world , big things count a lot, but small things count as well. The trick as it were to is make sure you nail the big things very well, and make sure to do the smalls things well too.
It sounds easy to do but my experience is that it’s hard to execute. Many companies – and their functional departments – try to do it all at once – sort of the spaghetti testing method en masse– throwing it against the wall hoping that most of it sticks.… Read the rest
Nothing’s guaranteed except change, and in business (as well as more than just a few non-profits) that means a churn of possible mergers, consolidations, and acquisitions. Across the country biotech companies, financial services firms like asset managers, hedge funds, venture capital and private equity firms, and any number of companies in other sectors are all scrambling – some to stay alive, others to grow by acquisition.… Read the rest
It’s tough to play well without knowing the rules. The employment game is no different: jobs may not always go to the best, but rather the best who know how to play the game. For those people who are in roles where positions are usually filled by companies using search firms, knowing how "executive search" works, particularly knowing what to do and what to avoid, can propel you throughout your career.… Read the rest
While interviews can seem hard on job candidates, they may actually be harder on hiring mangers. Apart from recruiters, most people – unless they’re an ineffective “interview and burn through people manager” – don’t interview enough to make interviewing second nature. As a result, instead of focusing on the candidate, hiring managers can get lost in thinking about their next question to ask, engage in a little white knuckle time while interviewing, and actually sweat and pray they’ll finally interview well.… Read the rest
Life changes, and at times, it changes very quickly. For organizations it can be a game of relentless catch-up as they move to adjust to the benefits – and challenges of technological shifts.
With most people and companies finally getting a solid handle on simple older workplace technology from the 1990’s like e-mail (“Do we really want to put out an all-employees e-mail saying those things?”),… Read the rest
This is the last in a series of three posts dealing with “brand.” A piece on employment brands in general and a post on personal brands preceded, and this item provides some examples and how to’s. As someone who’s been in the people (and teams) coaching business for over 25 years, and also been directly responsible for hiring thousands of people through roles running large staffing / recruiting operations, I have a pretty good idea why some firms recruit well (and others don’t), and how people can take their best foot forward as either a job candidate or consultant / vendor.… Read the rest