Lazy Recruiting
August 29, 2009 by Ed McLaughlin
In a good economy, hiring managers and recruiters typically focus on employed (passive) candidates. But in this environment, mass layoffs clearly mean that there are more quality people available in the ranks of the unemployed.
That hasn’t stopped some from targeting the employed. In this Wall Street Journal article, a partner from Kaye/Bassman International Corp. made one of the most ridiculous statements I’ve heard in some time. “If they’re employed in today’s economy, they have to be first string.”
Really? In my experience, layoffs are rarely objective. Sure, talented people survive, but many (some might say too many) sheepwalkers make the cut as well. When the smoke clears, a company is rarely left with the best of the best.
This strategy has another obvious flaw. Placing trust in the talent assessments of another firm is foolish, especially when you consider that many of these companies were run so poorly that they led us into the economic downturn in the first place.
Why would a recruiter stay with this approach? Maybe they don’t know better. Or maybe they’re simply following the rules of their employer (and thus are sheepwalkers themselves). Or perhaps it’s because they’re lazy. After all, the high volume of active candidates would result in additional strain during the screening phase and require a very precise selection process. Sounds like a lot of work to fill a position.
Or maybe they just don’t care. Whatever the reason, the folks at Kaye/Bassman International provide us with a great example of a big company thinking small.
Tagged: business, corporate layoffs, hiring mistakes, human resources, leadership, organizational behavior, recruiters, talent management, the wall street journal
The Brand is the Talent
August 20, 2009 by Ed McLaughlin
We shouldn’t be able to compete with big organizations. After all, they have more than we do.
More capital. More distribution channels. More sales people. And while these things used to matter, they don’t anymore. The fact is, small companies today are often a lot more successful than large ones.
Do you know why? There are several reasons, but one in particular should be painfully obvious. If you don’t know what it is, here is what I recommend:
- Get up out of your chair.
- Walk around to every cubicle and office.
- Look at each employee.
The evidence you need is staring you right in the face.
But don’t take my word for it. Take a minute to watch the video below – Tom Peters delivers a great summary of the importance of talent in the workplace.
Tagged: business, human resources, leadership, talent management
Web Design Essentials
August 19, 2009 by Ed McLaughlin
In today’s world, an 11-year old can design a website. That’s good news – it means that everyone has access to the tools necessary to build a site. And those tools keep getting better and better.
The bad news is that greater access doesn’t translate into better design.
When I was in graduate school, I was the first person in my class to incorporate graphics from the Internet into PowerPoint (insert laughter here). At the time, that was a big deal. I stood out from the crowd (for a few days, anyway) not because I did something great, but because I was first. Once everyone realized they had the tools necessary to raise their game, that’s exactly what they did.
You need to do the same thing with your website.
Remember – the purpose of your site is to:
- Sell (visitor buys; relevant only to ecommerce companies)
- Interact (visitor provides you with an email address or requests additional information)
- Promote (your site tells story, which helps the visitor envision how you could solve a problem important to them)
With that in mind, the following rules are unbreakable:
- Keep it simple. Don’t use the site as an information dumping ground. Minimize copy; don’t create fifteen pages when five will do. If you can put your site onto single page, do it.
- Make it clean. Don’t clutter; maximize white space.
- Have an even tone. Don’t swing from one voice to another. Know your story and stick with it.
- Sexy is nice, but unnecessary. The availability of design tools makes it easy for folks to get carried away with cleverness (flash, etc). If clever interferes with your story, you’ll send visitors elsewhere to find solutions to their problems.
- Have a vision. Don’t even think about making decisions by committee. Doing so guarantees you’ll end up with something watered down and useless. Leave that to the large companies.
Need inspiration? My favorite source for design is Smashing Magazine. There you’ll find showcases, how-tos, and tons of freebies. And five minutes on their site is all it takes for you to realize how high the bar has been raised.
Don’t fall too far behind.
Tagged: business, creativity, marketing, web design
Simple Web Design
August 18, 2009 by Ed McLaughlin
Could you reduce your website to a single page? These companies did:
Silverback (software)
Luke Larsen (web design)
Visualbox (art direction, motion graphics, and screening)
Want to guess what these sites have in common?
Tagged: business, creativity, marketing, web design
Life or Death, Part II
August 17, 2009 by Ed McLaughlin
Customers have expectations. And the reality is this: meeting expectations isn’t good enough. At best, this keeps customers satisfied, and satisfied customers will leave you (fast) for a better experience or lower price.
Falling short of expectations is another problem altogether.
DHL screwed up the first time I used them for overnight delivery. For some reason, the package never left the distribution center. The customer service rep told me he would try to complete delivery that same day, but couldn’t promise anything. Worst-case scenario was that it would go out the following day – 24 hours late. That wasn’t good enough, and I told him so. His response? “Sir, it’s just an express letter. I’m sure it’s not a matter of life or death.”
Shortly after that, the company announced it would cease express deliveries in the U.S. DHL closed 18 distribution hubs, eliminated 9,500 jobs, and ultimately lost $10 billion in the U.S. in five years. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
Tagged: business, customer service, leadership, marketing
Life or Death
August 16, 2009 by Ed McLaughlin
I recently called the police to report suspicious activity. Just to clarify: when on the highway, should you ever notice another driver sitting on plastic-covered seats while wearing surgical gloves, that’s suspicious. If the driver notices you looking at him and then drops his hands out of site, that’s very suspicious.
On the phone, I gave precise information so that the police could act quickly. In 60 seconds, I outlined the situation and provided them with a description of the car, license plate number, and location. From my standpoint, they had the information they needed to act. Send someone now!
Instead, time stopped. The dispatcher repeatedly asked the same questions over and over. I patiently repeated myself, but it quickly became obvious that she was unclear how to move forward. After 10 minutes on the phone, she finally said that they would “kansas” the area.
None of this was what I expected. The problems here are obvious:
- She didn’t listen.
- She wasn’t a knowledgeable resource.
- She didn’t act in a meaningful way.
Any citizen (or customer) wants someone to listen to them. They want to talk to a knowledgeable person. And most importantly, they want that person to act on their behalf. If any one of these are absent, the interaction falls short of expectations.
Many companies insist that they not only get this, but that they deliver on it as well. In my experience, that’s hardly the reality. The consequences of this ignorance could be horrific.
Sounds like an opportunity to me.
Tagged: business, customer service, leadership, marketing
Will It Blend?
August 13, 2009 by Ed McLaughlin
Imagine the excitement when a prospect receives your latest brochure.
“Bill! Look at this – it’s Blue Banana’s* new brochure!”
“Really? What does it say?”
“Well, let’s see…wow! Are you ready? They’ve been in business for fifty years!” He looked at Bill. “Maybe we should talk to them about our next project. Do you have time now?”
“Wait,” said Bill. “Let me call me wife to tell her about this brochure first.”
Come on. No one really cares. You don’t think people talk about standard marketing collateral, do you?
On the other hand, more than 7 million people watched Blendtec’s video below – and that was just on YouTube. Do you think you could get that many people to look at your brochure?
The lesson is simple: if you want people to spend time on something, make it worth their while.
*not a real company
Tagged: business, creativity, marketing, video
Don't Settle
August 12, 2009 by Ed McLaughlin
Not that long ago, I worked with someone who decided he no longer liked his circumstances. In what seemed like an instant, he opted to change the direction of his career.
I was impressed with the speed of his decision. “Why wait?” he said. “I’d rather do work that matters.”
He looked at me. “You can do the same thing.”
I knew what he was about to say.
“You don’t have to settle.”
He was right. And I didn’t. But far too many of us do. We decide to accept careers, projects, companies, and relationships that are “good enough.”
How do you avoid settling? Simple. It’s a choice.
Tagged: business, career, entrepreneur, leadership, marketing, strategy, talent management
We Show Up
August 9, 2009 by Ed McLaughlin
The cost of an advertisement is not positively correlated with its effectiveness. Consider the following:
Advertisement 1
Media: TV Commercial (2007)
Company: Shell Oil (with Ferrari Formula 1 Cars)
Cost to produce: $3.9 million
Advertisement 2
Media: Signage
Company: A-1 American Chimney and Roofing
Cost to produce: $500 – $1,000 (estimate)
It’s obvious which one is more memorable.
Creative advertising has little to do with how much cash you throw at the project. Inexpensive, smart and funny will win every time.
Tagged: advertising, business, creativity, marketing, video
Naive and Positive
August 5, 2009 by Ed McLaughlin
Entrepreneurs regularly approach me with business ideas. Too often their plans, while filled with energy and enthusiasm, have little substance. Wishful thinking without a map.
Like most entrepreneurs, I believe in thinking big. But there is a difference between a naïve entrepreneur and one that is relentlessly positive for the right reasons. Positive has a well-thought out plan. Positive knows when to tweak that plan in order to deal with inevitable setbacks. Positive balances wishful thinking with reality.
Naïve doesn’t. Naïve uses optimism to mask reality. And optimism is not enough to achieve the impossible.
If you’re a goal-oriented person and regularly push your limits, no doubt that you regularly run into obstacles. When you do, make sure that you know the difference between Naïve and Positive.
One often leads to very unexpected outcomes.
Tagged: business, entrepreneur, leadership, marketing, small company growth, strategy
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