aCE talentNET Media Stories - 2007
the professional edge career management December 07
May your talent continue to shine in 2008
Please view our Christmas message as our
way of sharing our festive spirit!!
Merry Christmas to you and those close to you.
We look forward to working with you
in the very near future
Festive Cheers
the Elves @ aCE talentNET
the professional edge career management November 07
Average v great recruiters: Clients' perspective
What differentiates an average recruiter from a great one? Recruiter Daily asked two major recruitment clients to share their positive experiences and what they'd love to see more of.HUMAN RESOURCES: Managing People – From the HR frontline Recruitment? Development? Performance? What are the most pressing employment issues facing those in the frontline of people management and what resources can they call on? The NZ Management - The Leaders Magazine asked five HR practitioners to share their experiences. Whether they operate in big, small, public or private organisations, HR advisers and managers inevitably share common people problems as well as facing issues unique to their company or industry environment. In a tight market, recruitment is an issue that absorbs both time and energy – and the need to attract and retain staff puts stronger emphasis on developing the sort of organisational culture that inspires loyalty.
Mythbuster - Employer of choice
So you want to be considered an employer of choice?
You are not alone. A Google search for the words 'employer of choice' returns 1,040,000 websites with those words mentioned - and that's just an Australian search. In the rush to be seen as employers of choice, have organisations forgotten what the concept meant in the first place? Has the term lost effectiveness through overuse?
the professional edge career management October 07
Career Management and what to consider...
Last month we made mention of findings in the Vedior Asia Pacific 2006/07 Employment Trends survey . While offering higher salaries is one strategy it should not be the only one, employers that are able to offer training and structured career management programs will be in a better position to attract and retain their staff.Never has investing in training and development been more critical as organisations begin to realise that growing internal talent is a far less costly and risky business than buying it externally . And let's not forget other critical engagement issues, such as work/life balance, performance reviews, development planning and career advancement. Organisations putting in place strategies to address these issues will be in a better position than their competitors when it comes to attracting and retaining their talent.
The Turnover Dilemma: A Question to Keep Employees
By Matthew Kelly for ChangeThis.com In this manifesto, Matthew Kelly warns of the high price of turnover. Sure, we know that losing employees costs money, but lost opportunity is often an incalculable cost. Many pundits and business owners blame employees, thinking they are uncommitted. But, Kelly argues, people leave their jobs because there is a disconnect between the work that they are doing and the dreams for their future. And it is up to managers to help reconnect their employees to their dreams.
- Why CSR (CorporateSocialResponsibility) matters...
Iain Hopkins of Human Capital Magazine investigates...
What is the appeal of your organisation to a potential employee? What is it that keeps your current employees where they are?
These are the questions increasingly being pondered not just by HR but executives. Of course, the answers will be mixed. For most employees and potential employees it is things such as employee conditions, culture, market position, size, location - and, yes, pay.However, there's a new candidate/employee magnet on the radar. Increasingly, it's the organisation's corporate ethics that are being examined. Candidates and employees are looking at the level of care an organisation takes with its impact on the environment, employees, community and the future....
the professional edge September 07
Soft Skills; Hard Dollars (extracting Real Value from Business Coaching) by Geraldine Mockler of Account Manager and Head of Coaching Services GPR Dehler, and speaker at the upcoming International Coach Federation Australasian Conference. Coaching has been enthusiastically adopted in the business world, with an increasing number of people looking for personal support in the workplace. Managers and executives, in particular those in key roles, seek peers that can unlock their ability to work through complex business problems and to better achieve their goals. The sector is still evolving and maturing. There are different perceptions of what coaches are expected to deliver, the criteria by which they are assessed, and how, and by whom, their value is measured.
• Design meet Business: "Business, this is... Design"
This may leave buyers at a potential disadvantage – without the ability to establish clear expectations or a means to differentiate coaching programs, assess capability and evaluate the return on investment.
by Mark Dziersk for Fast Company. Business people need to develop a better understanding of design, form partnerships between themselves and creativity, and apply strategy to design thinking, in order to compete effectively today.Let's say you're the typical businessperson who knows very little about design. Perhaps you equate Mike Meyer's old SNL character on "Sprockets" with the typical designer. You know, dressed all in black, funny little glasses, all emotion no rational thought. Now, let's say you're being asked to integrate design into everything you do, and leverage it as a core strategy for every part of your competitive advantage.
Making the Most of Your Time: Going Beyond To-Do Lists By Rajesh Setty . The author of one of 'ChangeThis'' most popular manifesto, 25 Ways to Distinguish Yourself, Rajesh Setty returns with a new set of suggestions for optimizing your abilities. He asserts that even though everyone is given only 24 hours in a day, the most successful people are those who make every minute count. Here, he tells you how project management, understanding your abilities; investing in relationships and making a difference are just some of the ways you can make the most of your time.
This is for everyone, whether in corporate, or as an independent. Is this not something we are all striving for...
the professional edge August 07
- Talent Management Strategy:
Top 22 Programs that Drive High Impact
This research was designed to do three things: first, gain a clear understanding of how corporate talent management is defined; second to understand the trends and directions in implementing these processes; and third, most importantly, to see how talent management drives business results. Click here to read the complete article and read Bersin & Associates recommendations for the three tactics that will put your talent management strategy right on track.
- Recruit and Re-recruit - by Beverly Kaye and Sharon Jordan-EvansHiring is a critical managerial competency, and it doesn't stop with the job offer. Today, re-recruiting your best people is as critical as hiring them in the first place.
Do you have "re-recruiting" initiatives in place?
Do you know where to start if you don't?
- Succession planning: women in the pipeline?
Succession planning is considered necessary for every organisation from the family farm through to Fortune 500 companies.
Teresa Russell talks to two organisations that operate at different ends of the spectrum. Both are doing what is within their powers (and budget) to identify, develop and retain future leaders - with a special emphasis on women.
Because of prior poor experiences - or the generally bad caricatures that exist about many professions - clients are often suspicious (at least initially) of the motives of their service providers. Whatever your profession, you need to be prepared for the fact that, at the beginning of every new relationship, you must avoid confirming other peoples' (inevitable) starting suspicions about your motives, and must actively work to demonstrate that you are, in fact, unlike the providers that the client may have experienced before. This is not easy. It turns out that it is not enough just to be trustworthy. You must also know how to give the client the experience that you are visibly, obviously, trustworthy. David Maister's latest article "Integrity Impugned", explores these issues.
This can also be said of the internal machinations of organisations. How reluctant are we sometimes to approach a department which we have preconceived ideas about. We at aCE talentNET can only assume we come up against the same prejudices when we are approached about finding talent. One thing that works in our favour is that when we are approached, some thought has gone into that initial contact before it has been made. Word of mouth referrals always assist.
So has the Six Sigma moment passed?
The discipline was developed as a systematic way to improve quality, but the reason it caught fire was its effectiveness in cutting costs and improving profitability. That makes it a powerful tool — if those are a company's goals. But as innovation becomes the cause du jour, companies are increasingly confronting the side effects of a Six Sigma culture.
Six Sigma clearly had a profound impact on the corporate world. According to the American Society for Quality, 82 of the 100 largest companies in the U.S. have embraced it. And that's quickly trickling down: Six Sigma consultants are as busy as ever as the quality-improvement system migrates from its traditional focus on U.S. manufacturing companies to the financial-services industry and abroad. But as its popularity endures, the notion of Six Sigma as a corporate cure-all is subsiding. Once a company has done the requisite belt-tightening.
One of the primary job tasks for the CLO is to leverage learning for business advantage. At least, it should be. Of course, that's often much easier said than done, but clever CLOs are always on the look out for ways to press the importance of the learning function upon other senior-level executives in their organizations.It's necessary: If no one knows what learning does or sees its value, no one will want to finance development activities. That means no support, no resources, no funds and — eek! — no job. One way to relay the value of learning is to build a business case.
The Australian Financial Review
Page: 10: 31 May 2007 Original article by Richard Hemming
ABIX Summary
Australia has almost 3,000 recruitment and hiring organisations, collectively turning over around $A16bn a year. Lower unemployment and a shortage of many skills has changed the industry. Recruitment agencies may be more likely to focus on finding a job for an individual rather than finding an employee for a company. Recruitment agencies have also expanded their operations to include human resources and performance reviews. Small firms offering personalised service and with a good list of contacts are doing well.
And aCE talentNET is a testament to that. We give very personalised service and have an amazing talentNETwork, and as a result the aCE talentNET business has grown over 150% in this last financial year!! Part of this is due to (and as we have mentioned in the April07 The Professional Edge ) a number of smart clients appreciating the value of our talentNETwork by wanting to advertise permanent roles to them. Our hit rate for being able to fill these roles has been very successful, even if the candidates didn't realise they wanted to be candidates prior to receiving the invitation to apply!
- Fool vs. Jerk: Whom Would You Hire?
You are the hiring manager with a nasty decision to make. Would you hire the lovable fool or the competent jerk? This Harvard Business Review excerpt suggests that the decision is complicated.
By HBS professor Tiziana Casciaro and Duke University 's Miguel Sousa Lobo.
When given the choice of whom to work with, people will pick one person over another for any number of reasons: the prestige of being associated with a star performer, for example, or the hope that spending time with a strategically placed superior will further their careers. But in most cases, people choose their work partners according to two criteria. One is competence at the job (Does Joe know what he's doing?). The other is likability (Is Joe enjoyable to work with?). Obviously, both things matter. Less obvious is how much they matter and exactly how they matter.
- The Brand You Age
Julie Ann Reynolds, CEO of tompeters! company reminds us that Tom Peters popularized the idea of Brand You. She believes it encompasses creating a brand campaign that blends your company's and your individual employees' brands together. Brand You brings your brand alive! connecting everyone to values, purpose, and message—from the board room to the reception desk.
The Talent Era is here. The labour market has shifted. The Brand You mindset is needed more than ever. Both companies in their hiring and employees in the way they build and guide their own professional careers must use a Brand You approach. As one Organizational Development leader described, "Brand You is a compelling and concise leadership development framework that really gets at the heart of what it means to be an effective and powerful brand. It offers practical strategies that maximize your contribution to the organization, to your customers and most importantly to yourself." Using this methodology, employers effectively identify what a job seeker has to offer and what sets him apart from other prospective candidates. This facilitates recruiting and retaining those with whom leaders will build the future of the company.
- High Impact Talent Management
Whilst based on US research this data remains relevant and very useful to all OD, HR & L&D specialists in Asia-Pacific. It is impossible to give a comprehensive overview of the 400+ research report nor indeed the 29 page Executive Summary, however listing the Top 10 Findings should whet your appetite sufficiently to visit the Bersin website and download your own Executive Summary or purchase the full report.
The Top 10 Findings are:
- The Corporate Talent Squeeze is real and painful
- The Number 1 talent program facing organisations today is a shortage of potential leaders, otherwise knows as "Gaps" in the Leadership Pipeline
- Performance Management and coaching offer the greatest opportunities to drive business impact
- Competency Management emerges as a business-critical initiative
- Sourcing and recruiting are harder and more scientific then ever
- Learning and development has become a foundational process for talent management
(aCE talentNET comment "a must read read for all HR and L&D staff")- Talent Management challenges and their solutions are very business-specific
- Talent Management is a business problem, not an HR problem
- HR Systems are not critical to success
- Integrated Talent Management systems show great promise but the market is still immature.
To access a copy of your own Executive Report and read about the 22 high-impact talent practices visit www.bersinassociates.com.
At a recent conference, David Maister heard a number of successful firm leaders describe how their firms had achieved significant growth and profitability. A common phrase used by each and every one of these firm leaders was "making sure that all the key people were 'on the same page." Clearly, it was important that something was agreed to and shared among the members of these firms. But what? What does "being on the same page" really mean? And how is it done?The latest article on doing strategy in a professional business attempts to answer thee questions, is called "What's Our Deal?". Well worth the read.
- And for something completely different....
From a strictly mathematical viewpoint it goes like this:
What Makes 100%? What does it mean to give MORE than 100%? Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%? We have all
been to those meetings where someone wants you to give over 100%. How about achieving 103%? What makes up 100% in life?
Here's a little mathematical formula that might help you answer these questions...
the professional edge April 07
In this day and age, with so many case studies and examples of great eLearning practice available in the public domain, it never ceases to amaze Scott Mahoney of OmniAP how so many organisations find so many ways to make a mess of their eLearning initiatives. It also amazes him that these failures are not confined solely to eLearning ‘virgins' – many of the more spectacular (& costly) eLearning disasters emanate from within well established eLearning practices.
Talent management is not an "HR process" but rather a "business process" which must be implemented through line of business executive leadership. This article highlights this critical issue and the linkage between Business Issues and Talent Issues. Underlying this finding is the obvious but often subtle issue that in today's tight labor markets almost every major business challenge has an underlying talent challenge. Talent management strategies, then, should not be developed except in the context of your particular business strategy.
At least, that's what The Weekend Australian announced recently in a full-page feature on Martyn Newman's book ‘Emotional Capitalists – The New Leaders'.
the professional edge March 07
- How to be yourself at work
Struggling to be authentic and have a successful career can create much stress and unhappiness. These days low employee engagement scores and levels of presenteeism at work are quite regularly reported.
- The Relationship Between Competencies and Financial Performance
Performance management has become one of the biggest new investments in HR organizations today. Bersin & Associates' research found more than 45 percent of HR managers rate "improvement of performance management processes" as one of their top two areas of focus. Companies of all shapes and sizes, including learning management system (LMS) and human resource management system (HRMS) providers, as well as best-of-breed vendors, now offer modules for performance management. But these investments will not yield value unless companies first take stock of the fundamentals underlying their performance management processes. Automating problematic or outdated processes brings no benefit.
- Selecting A Leader: Do We Know What We Want?
If you read many articles or books on the desired qualities of a CEO or a managing partner, you can get very confused. The list of desirable character traits, attitudes, skills and philosophies seems endless. You can get the same impression looking at the job descriptions that many firms put together when searching for a new leader. There is often a long list, including both “qualifying” characteristics (such as “integrity”) that most realistic candidates are likely to possess, as well as a number of factors that will truly distinguish the best candidates. David Maisters latest article offers a simple tool to assist with a difficult topic: identifying the key attitudes, skills and behaviours that a CEO or Managing Partner should have.
the professional edge February 07
- Are We In This Together? The Preconditions For Strategy.
David Maister's latest article argues that many firms are incapable of pulling off any strategy because their members have not yet decided if they wish to enter into a joint, collaborative activity-building for the future. In many organizations, there are Mountain Lions who want to be independent and bet on their ability to "kill meat today." There are members of the Wolf Pack, who are prepared to collaborate, but only if it all pays off quickly. There are Beavers, who will patiently build for the future, but only for their own family. And there are a (small) group of Humans eager to collaborate in building for the future. .... Which mix do you have?
- Why Corporate “Goodness” is Not Enough: Rethinking Corporate
Christine Arena argues that the widely-held notion that corporate responsibility is about “doing good” marginalizes an important part of doing business in the 21st century. Instead, it is about innovation, making real change as the world changes. She also lets us in on which extraordinary companies driven by purposeful ideas have actually succeeded.
- The Mediation Explosion– new opportunities?
Tim Connellan from Pacific Mediation explains how many major corporates and government departments are devoting more and more resources to ensuring the workplace is as harmonious an environment as possible. This can be in the form of up skilling employees with in-house training or by engaging external consultants.
the professional edge January 07
Enterprise Learning and Talent Management 2007
For the third year, Bersin and Associates has compiled their top 10 predictions for the coming year. The goal with this report was to summarize the issues and areas every learning and HR executive should be considering in the months ahead. And, if you're looking to justify investments or to get planning approval, this document could also serve as useful support since it summarizes much of the research conducted over 2006.10 Hot Jobs for 2007
Fast Company's Top Jobs list for 2007 takes a look at 10 of the ost sought-after positions in some of the fastest growing U.S. industries.
Take note of #7... Talent Agent !
That would be aCE then... only we do it for Business Talent; Management Consulting Talent; Talent that Businesses need to know about.
Have you investigated what we can do for you yet?- The Mediation Explosion – new opportunities? (.pdf 72kb)
Tim Connellan from Pacific Mediation explains how m any major corporates and government departments are devoting more and more resources to ensuring the workplace is as harmonious an environment as possible. This can be in the form of up skilling employees with in-house training or by engaging external consultants.