People Who Give Grief to Volunteers!

Every now and then I will post a couple of entries on the same day ... and this is going to be one of those days (a) because I head out on vacation for a little more than a week, so blogging is not likely to happen and (b) because I want to get this off my chest.

I talk a lot about the importance of giving back to those less fortunate in our society ... the easiest thing in the world is to give a few dollars and people still don't do that enough. However for busy people the hardest thing to do is to devote time ... I know, because I devote a lot of time, but I do it because it is the right thing to do.

One of the roles that business people have in the non-profit world is to help raise funds, that can mean canvassing friends and colleagues, it can mean organizing events, marketing or any other means to help those good causes raise the money that they need.

My beef ... I hate it when I get grief from people that I canvas. I am perfectly fine with people saying no, or telling me that they support other charities ... but there really is no room for abuse. Snarky comments, irritable responses and pure bad manners not only make the canvasser (who volunteered their time remember) feel bad, they run the risk of turning them off volunteering!

Yesterday a friend of mine tells me this story ....

She is organizing a large event to raise money for breast cancer. She puts in a ton of her own time, gets support from her friends and uses her organizational skills to make this thing happen every year. She even uses her contacts to get help from newspapers, that use their distribution lists to publicise the event. A huge commitment from a very busy person.

She can't believe the number of terse replies she gets from people who don't appreciate getting a few emails about this event and several people even responded accusing her of spamming them. One very special person was even more direct, wanting to know how he got on her email list and he was particularly rude in his comments.

So ... she responds to this individual and politely explains what happened and how it works.

Having already established his credentials with his first response, he proceeds to give her inappropriate advice for her event. The title of her event is a play on the the fact it is for breast cancer (birdies for boobies) ... he believes adding sexual overtones would be a great idea. What are you thinking ... or more appropriately ARE you thinking?

This is a senior executive at a tech company!

Some advice for him ...

1. If you get an email for charity and don't want to respond or even read it ... then press delete.
2. Don't give volunteers grief ... its just not acceptable.
3. Don't make inappropriate suggestions to people you don't know.
4. You are supposed to be a leader in our community ... start acting like one!

July 2009 - IT Industry News

This is my 30,000 foot look at events in the ICT industry for July 2009. What you see here is a précis of the monthly report I produce, which is available in more detail at the Eagle website. You will also find back issues on the website.

Three years ago in July 2006 AMD bought ATI for $5.4B, HP bought Mercury Interactive for $4.5B, EMC paid $2.1B for RSA Security and Microsoft was fined $350M by the EU for abusing its “near monopoly”. Two years ago in July 2007 HP paid $1.6B to buy Opsware, Steria paid $1B for Xansa, IBM paid $160M for BI company Datamirror (and still bought Cognos) and Google paid $625M for Postini. Last year in July 2008 the big deal was the purchase of Foundry Networks by Brocade Communications for $3B. The economy was beginning to turn for the worse, but we didn’t know it … NACCB in the US announced record IT employment and CDW suggested that 51% of businesses would increase IT budgets in the last 6 months of 2008. July 2008 also saw the official retirement of Windows XP!

So … here we are in July 2009 and the economic battle continues! Unemployment is still high, reaching 9.5% in the US and somehow a Technisource survey tells us that IT employee confidence increased. That could be a little premature given that a Computer Economics survey suggests nearly half of IT organisations are planning cuts this year! Those layoffs will be especially hard on older workers according to a Careerbuilder survey that suggests more than 70% of that demographic that were laid off have not found new jobs … as opposed to less than 30% for other demographics. Having said that, news from Europe suggests that things are worse there and they expect to recover later than most other developed nations!

At Eagle we instituted a diversity program some time ago and it appears that DELL should have done something similar. They will pay $9.1 Million to settle a class action lawsuit that accused them of sexual discrimination.

There was some brisk activity on the M&A front this month. Here in Ottawa we watched the Nortel situation closely and I’m not sure which was more discouraging, our wet Summer or the break-up of a Canadian business icon! It looks like Ericsson is the winner (barring political intervention) in this round, having offered $1.1 Billion in an auction for Nortel’s wireless carrier assets. That was not the biggest deal of the month however as EMC agreed to pay $2.4 billion for Data Domain, also Big Blue (IBM) is paying $1.2 Billion to add to its BI capability with the acquisition of SPSS. Amazon splashed out to the tune of $850 million to buy Zappos.com meanwhile Google sold its stake in AOL for $283 million, when it had paid $1 Billion for that same asset 4 years ago. Accenture, Nokia, HP, Oracle and SAP were all out with their cheque books this month making it a busy M&A month.

This week Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of Canada announced that the recession is technically over … but of course there is still some pain to come. Here at Eagle we are seeing signs of life in the GTA and even glimmers out in the oil patch, so our largest markets are coming to life. If we can only get some sun for the rest of the Summer things might start to look really rosy!

Until next month!

That's what caught my eye over the last month, the full edition is available by clicking here to go to the appropriate part of Eagle's website. Hope this was useful and I’ll be back with the August 2009 news in just about a month’s time.

Entrepreneurs

As a business owner I have gained some insight into the world of entrepreneurship. The thing that defines the entrepreneurial spirit to me is the willingness to make it happen no matter what!

The obstacles will inevitably be there … no matter what line of business.

There will always be easier paths in life.

Yet those entrepreneurs choose to battle the obstacles, to shun the easy path, to take risk and to chase their dream.

I talked with a friend today who is launching a new business. It’s a start-up as opposed to buying a business, it’s a consumer type business rather than a business to business entity; it’s a service business but not an hourly paid consulting business. There is demand, she has done her homework and she has that determination to get it going. She arranged financing (verbally), lined up partners, has her concept ready to roll, found and signed up for the space. NOW the bank is having second thoughts about the financing … not back before the commitments were made and not prior to her spending money. For me this is exactly what entrepreneurs face ALL the time, faceless bureaucratic paper pushers who have no idea about the impact of their decisions or non-decisions.

Entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of our economy, the people who take the risks and create companies that provide employment. They typically don’t go cap in hand to the government for “bail out packages”, for “stimulus packages” or even just to get business. It is REALLY hard to win government business … it takes a long investment of time and a good deal of knowledge, so it is very difficult for a start–up to get government business.

Over my years in business I have seen these issues personally, and could tell many personal horror stories of red tape run amok, and systems designed to stop people from running businesses. I have met lots of entrepreneurs with the same experiences.

People who start and run businesses might get some success, but there are more who fail than make it … and if they make it, they earned it!

So … hug an entrepreneur today!

Vacation ... Time to Recharge the Batteries!

I have owned my own business for almost thirteen years, and certainly this past year has been one of the toughest! The poor economy has meant less business, more competition and less room for error. Almost all clients have cut back on their spend, reduced headcount and squeezed their suppliers to the limit.

Its the kind of pressure cooker environment every business owner has been facing ... reducing costs, keeping staff motivated and developing strategies that will (a) ensure survival but (b) position for improved success as the economy turns.

In this kind of environment anyone in the private sector who is lucky enough to still be working is feeling the stress ... whether you are worried about your job, being asked to work harder or having your income reduced!

Even in times like this, and perhaps especially in times like this it is important to take a break from work. The constant pressure has a cumulative effect and over time it will cause issues ... physical health problems in addition to reduced tolerance and a couple of the obvious ones. These in turn will affect your relationships (in and out of work) which will just add to the pressure!

So ... I am heading out on vacation this week. I will be in the UK for a little more than a week, spending time with my family and enjoying (hopefully) a week without the constant worries of the office.

I thought I would do a little internet research into advice about the benefits of holidays and came up with a fairly consistent set of messages.

Perhaps one of the better articles is called 7 Great Benefits of Taking a Vacation.

There was another article called the Health Benefits of Taking a Vacation.

I even blogged about the Importance of Rest and Recuperation myself back in December 2006, when I was heading out for a mini-break!.

I know that I am fortunate to be able to travel to the UK, and not everyone can afford that but most people can afford to have some kind of a break even if it is getting away camping at a local park. We all need that separation from work sometimes, and I for one will benefit from a week away!

Don't forget you only live once, so look after yourself. If you don't, then who will?

Kevin Dee and the Web 2.0 World

I have been blogging since January 2006 … I expect that if I had named my blog something to do with CEO Blogging then I might have gained a little more interest! Perhaps one of the lessons I would suggest for new bloggers is to name the blog appropriately, I sometimes get hits from people looking for information about eagles! The blog has been an interesting tool for me, I have perhaps 760 entries now and cover a range of subjects. I am able to pull up many entries about management, sales, the staffing industry, time management and general personal development. Overall the feedback has been positive and it has become one of our company’s marketing tools. If people are interested in starting a blog I tell them that they need to understand it is a long term commitment and then determine if the ROI is worth it. I have written blog entries about my rationale for blogging … maybe that will help anyone considering joining the huge community of bloggers.

I wrote my first blog about social networks a little more than two years ago, in April 2007. That entry was based upon my initial impressions of Facebook, which I had not long joined. I must say that my impressions have not changed a whole lot since then … it is a site that I view as a more personal way to connect to people, than a business tool and I have had some good experiences using Facebook. I was able to organize a family get together in Europe, communicating long distance primarily through this tool; I am much more connected to my family in the UK, get to see recent pictures much faster and share my own pictures relatively quickly. I get to enjoy the humour of friends and family as they comment about everyday life … and generally I am happy to be there. Perhaps my only reservations come in that “grey zone” of people who ask to be connected but are really not close friends, more business acquaintances. I am a little discerning about who I accept as a Facebook friend, but I don’t think that has cost me any relationships yet!

In July 2008 I wrote a blog entry about LinkedIn … and again, I don’t think my current impressions have changed much since that review. There have certainly been lots of articles recently about the power of Linkedin as a recruiting tool, although I have not used it for that purpose. I have found it to be a great way to stay/get connected to business people … whether it is industry colleagues, clients, past acquaintances or just people with similar interests. I have been instrumental in the setup of a few “Groups” ... including an alumni group for Eagle which is an interesting way to keep in touch with ex-employees; plus an industry association group for ACSESS (staffing industry association Canada). Groups are a great way to share news that is of common interest. So the group feature and the ability to connect with like minded business people is powerful ... so apparently is its recruiting capability.

April this year I blogged about Twitter … and still consider myself a relative “neophyte” to this phenomena. Again, not a whole lot has changed in my viewpoint but I will make the point that I am still a fan. In my opinion … which does not seem to be unanimous, there are different strategies for (1) posting tweats AND (2) for who to follow. Some (many) schools of thought suggest that you should follow everyone who follows you. I really don’t want to follow every small business that chooses to follow me … their “tweats” fill up my days and I really only want tweats that are of interest to me. Having identified some interesting people, and sources, I do enjoy the updates that come throughout the day and they are manageable enough that I don’t need to spend a ton of time on it. Twitter has also proven to be a good way to raise profile for my blog … as I have seen an increase in traffic since I have tweated.

The web 2.0 world is definitely here to stay, and changes the way business is done, the way we gather information and the way that we share it. Communication happens in nanoseconds and staying current, or keeping people up to date with your world becomes relatively easy.

There are obvious drawbacks and I think probably top of the list for me is the possibility that you could spend a LOT of time on social network sites, so it is important to understand what the value is for you … and to make the effort commensurate with the return.

Most of my Facebook time is done at home in off hours. I will get on LinkedIn perhaps every other day to check or contribute to the “groups” and perhaps once every few weeks I will give some consideration to who else I might connect with. On Twitter I will check it maybe 3 or 4 times a day, taking perhaps 5 minutes each time and I will also post an entry every time I blog and I blog most business days.

There are times when I find myself spending a little more time on the social network activities than I should, but generally I exercise pretty good time management. If you can do that, then these tools can be very useful!

Honeymoon Periods

I decided to go to Wikipedia and see how the term honeymoon period is described.

The honeymoon period is the phase early in a long-term relationship with a person, place or thing that is characterized by greater than typical joy and lesser than typical friction. Usually during this time there is much more physical contact between the two partners in the relationship. In a political context, it is the early period in a political term during which constituents are less demanding and more forgiving of their representative. This is also true early on in marriage - spouses seem to be more forgiving and loving than they would be later on in the relationship.

As expected, it’s a pretty good description of this “period” but doesn’t really get to the heart of what is really a very human issue … our expectations.

I guess the original term probably stems from marriage, suggesting that the honeymoon period might well be that time when a couple are at their happiest. A time before they find out that they each have flaws and that they really can get on each other’s nerves! Oops, sorry if I burst any bubbles here.

Of course the newly weds know intellectually that this is in fact the case and that in order to have a lasting relationship it requires effort, patience and perhaps a willingness to compromise.

This can be applied to almost any situation … a new job, a new employee, a new house, a new car, a new gym etc. As you get to know it better the flaws become more pronounced, and if those flaws exceed your expectation then you tend to react. How you react will determine the success of this new relationship … whether it is with an inanimate object like a car or with another human being.

This is where a pragmatic approach is required … what is your minimum expectation and can it be achieved? If not, then probably the up-front “courtship” (to keep the metaphor going) didn’t do its job!

However, assuming that this is a relationship that CAN work, then it needs to have a plan, good communication and a commitment to make it work.

Sounds like effort … of course it is!

One of life’s lessons … There are NO free lunches, everything has a price.

To further expand that lesson … anything worth having is worth working for!

OK … you can apply all of the above to any situation you feel to be pertinent. The situation I want to talk about today is President Obama.

The latest polls suggest that Obama’s popularity is taking a dive. The fall matches the decline in the US economy and his inability to effect “enough” change on important issues in his 8 months in office. Now that is probably a pretty long honeymoon.

However, 8 months in the middle of the worst economy of our time, while tackling the issues in Iraq and Afghanistan, facing off against North Korea’s nuclear threat and trying to tackle a huge healthcare problem at the same time.

It is a definite classic case of honeymoon period. Maybe we should redefine honeymoon period as that period of time when people look at their world through rose-coloured glasses!

This is a President who was set up with such huge expectations from the beginning … despite his attempts at bringing some reality into the equation … that this was inevitable.

I am going to watch and learn from Barack Obama over the coming months. How he tackles this “post honeymoon period” will be a great lesson to all leaders. It will also be a lesson to anyone interested in human nature. I expect that he will reconnect with the American public, will probably be a little more visible than he has of late and will keep them apprised of his plans.

He will have a plan for this situation, he will communicate a lot (and he is a great communicator) and he will demonstrate commitment to making this work.

I bet he has a good marriage too!

Personal Productivity

I think I prefer that title as it is more accurate than Time Management … of course no-one can manage time, we can just maximize the time that we have at our disposal.

Over the course of the last three years I have written on this subject (sometimes calling it time management I must confess) many times. I consider this to be one of THE key areas in which a person can really (a) differentiate themselves from their peers and (b) have a true impact on their life, by spending time on the important things … rather than being ineffective.

Today I was directed to an article about Multi-Tasking (called Why Multi-Tasking Doesn’t Work) that was both interesting and informative. The gist of the article is that multi-tasking makes us far less productive and even cites a study that suggests a driver using a mobile phone performs about the same as a drunk driver! There is something to think about … I wonder what affect doing lipstick and driving has!

So this article reminded me that it has been some time since I addressed this subject. Here are some resources you might want to check out.

My blog entry … 10 Time Management Tips from June 2009.
My blog entry … Getting Control of Your Time from February 2009.
My blog entry … Goals The Way to Take Charge of Your Life from July 2006.
The CEO Blog – time leadership by Jim Estill
Getting Things Done by David Allen … a whole philosophy on the subject!

I really believe that this is an area that bears constant attention. We can all get more productive, learn new techniques, try different ways of doing things to maximize time. The result can be dramatic … and as an old sales guy I can’t stress enough the value of good “time management” habits.

As I have often said the result may mean more time available for “family time” or it may mean exceeding targets, but whatever your goal making better use of your time can only be a good thing!

Complacency Can Hurt!

You really can’t afford to be complacent in anything that you do … although human nature is such that when we get “comfortable” we tend to “coast’ a little and perhaps pay a little less attention to those important details!

Let me give a few examples …

The Salesperson. You are a salesperson and have been successful for some time now. You have a key account that generates most of your business and you look after the client well, have a great relationship and life is rosy. What could possibly go wrong?

Your key contacts could be replaced with newcomers who have different allegiances; your client could run into financial difficulty; or your company could mess up, and upset someone.

What should you be doing? Don’t have all your eggs in one basket! Nurture your next account, develop more contacts in this key account. Stay close to the various influencers ... even those you don’t deal with regularly.

The Company. Your company has been having good growth, you are well established, have a good client base and good operating model. What could possibly go wrong?

The economy could tank; a key client could be acquired; a key client might choose to re-tender their business due to new players or procurement rules; a competitor might choose to disrupt your market space.

What should you be doing? Diversify your clients across different market segments – government, financial services, telco, oil & gas, utilities etc. Diversify across geographies … often when one geography is struggling another might be doing OK. Diversify offerings, but use your core competences – don’t introduce new offerings that are totally unrelated to your current business. Always be looking for that next big client.

The Cyclist. You having been cycling for many years, are very comfortable on a bike and out for a Saturday afternoon ride for exercise and fresh air. What could possibly go wrong?

You could look back to see where your spouse is and take a spectacular flyer over the handlebars land on your shoulder as the handlebars dig into your thigh. Of course you are wearing sandals and in addition to your scraped knee you also have scraped toes!

What should you be doing? Well cursing didn’t work so well, so I just completed the ride and am sporting a rather spectacular bruise on my thigh … which unfortunately is positioned such that I can’t even show it off!

The big lesson of course is that no matter what you are doing you really can’t afford to be complacent! A little bit of good news is that it was my bicycle I was on and not my 1400cc motorbike!

Are You Still Alive?

I had to post this one ... Kit Grant is one of those irreverent, interesting and entertaining speakers who has a way of getting your attention. We have had him speak to the Eagle team and he has talked at our industry association conference.

Kit also has a newsletter to which you should subscribe ... just go to his website.

The following is from Kit's latest thought provoking email ...

"A lot of people die at forty but are not buried until thirty years later." ... General George Patton.

I've met lots of people who are dead but haven't left yet!

They no longer have any dreams, wouldn't think of setting goals in case they might fail, don't like the "rotten deal" they have somehow been dealt by circumstances beyond their control and really expect government to develop regulations and policies that can ensure their miserable existence.

They're lots of fun to hang around (ho,ho) and have succeeded in absolving themselves of any responsibility for the results they get.

Sound like anyone you know?

The only person in charge of you is you and when you surrender that huge responsibility to outside forces or groups you will enter the world of chronic complainers and, in time, become one of them.

Watch what you say, what you do and who you hang around with. If you see or hear stuff you don't like, have a talk with the person in the mirror and get out of your own rut!

Are You Living the Life You Want or Is It Just Happening?

One of the phrases often used when talking about enjoying life or ensuring you make the most of your time here, goes something like this ... You do not want to be lying on your death bed "wishing" that you had done things which you could be doing now!

The underlying message of course is that we should take a little time to understand what is important to us and to actually work towards achieving those things while we still can.

Recently I came across an article on life planning in the context of financial planning ... incidentally I'm much better at spending money than I am at planning how to maximise it! However the article talked about three questions that are used by The Kinder Institute (one of the first institutes in the field of Life Planning). The questions seemed to make sense in the concept of making you think about what is really important to you ... so I thought I would share them.

1. Imagine that you are financially secure, that you have enough money to take care of yourself and your needs, now and in the future. How would you live your life? Would you change anything?

2. Now imagine that you visit your doctor, who tells you that you have only five to ten years to live. You won't ever feel sick, but you will have no notice of the moment of your death. What will you do i the time you have remaining? Will you change your life - and how will you do it?

3. Finally, imagine that your doctor shocks you with the news that you only have 24 hours to live. What feelings arise as you confront your mortality? Ask yourself: What did you miss? Who did you not get to be? What did you not get to do?

I am a fan of having goals ... and to have a "bucket list" is really to establish some goals for your life. These questions can help you to crystalise your thoughts and make sure that you are living the life you want ... rather than the life that just happens to you.

Canadian IT Job Market – Quarterly Outlook July 2009

This is a look at the Canadian IT Job market across Canada from our company's perspective. We have offices in 10 cities across the country and our three General Managers have tapped into their market knowledge to write this ... hope you find it helpful. I will stress that this is not a scientific or statistical look at the market ... this is what we see day in day out "in the trenches" of the war for talent across Canada.

Despite the hope that a recovery is underway, there was little inspiration in the job market across Canada this past quarter. Employers remain cautious about hiring new people or investing in new projects. Perhaps the employment rate offers a glimmer of hope. While it is still dropping, it has been doing so at a decreasing rate.

According to Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey for June 2009, Canada suffered a net loss of 13,000 jobs over the last three months, in stark contrast to the massive losses in the first three months of 2009, which saw 273,000 lost jobs. Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta’s employment rates remain steady, but Ontario’s rates continue to drop. While full-time employment is still decreasing across the country, there has been a noticeable rise in self-employment, which rose by 37,000 jobs in June.

Last summer in Western Canada, a number of indicators suggested a busy summer, including an increased demand for Project Managers, Business Analysts, and Architects, as well as a growing interest in permanent placements. The entire region was showing good activity, specifically in Winnipeg, Victoria, and Calgary. The Fall, however, saw the economy slow down and our experience suggests that since April, the job market had slowed down significantly. Many projects have been cancelled or postponed due to cautious hiring practices in all industries. Having said that, this past quarter has shown some positive signs for the West, which we feel indicate an impending increase in activity – the question remains “when?”.

As the summer progresses, it is normal for projects to slow down due to vacation time; however, because of the economy, RFP processes, and other internal complications, many companies are actually behind on their IT plans. We are hopeful that this may lead to an active summer in the IT job market. The Government of Alberta has already started putting out a number of RFPs, and many other organizations and industries are expected to follow suit.

In the West, the overall interest in permanent placements is still low, but there has been some increase in demand for contract workers over the past quarter, indicating that projects are getting underway, but companies are still cautious and aren’t ready to create any more full-time positions. Even for contract resources, hiring managers are still exercising prudence, taking longer to make a final hiring decision.

Skills in demand in Victoria and Vancouver continue to be Siebel, QA, and CRM. BAs, PMs, SharePoint, and LiveLink are the major skills for Calgary, while Edmonton‘s hot jobs include Oracle, BA, and PM positions. Skill sets in demand in Regina include BAs and PMs and Winnipeg’s hot jobs include Network Administrators, Help Desk Analysts, and Business Analysts.

At this time last year, the job market in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) was already starting to experience some slowdown in the job market. This summer, though, the market is looking positive with some healthy signs of growth. The finance industry, which has not seen much activity in the past few months, is beginning to identify gaps and build its resources, while the Government of Ontario is also beginning to increase its volume in hiring. Due to recent “scandals”, however, some ministries in the Government have been a little more hesitant to hire extra resources.

The GTA was into recession earlier than Western Canada and, consequently, appears to be coming out of recession ahead of the West. IT contract opportunities in the GTA have increased in the past quarter, and permanent staffing needs are also showing signs of significant growth. Many companies have started to identify areas where they are lacking skills and filing them with full-time positions, particularly Project Managers, Infrastructure Managers, and Business Analysts. This compliments the trend of an increased interest among IT professionals in permanent positions, if not long, stable contracts.

In the past quarter, there has not been a significant change in the region’s hot skills. In addition to the roles mentioned above, Business Transformation continues to be a desirable skill in the area, and ERP professionals, specifically SAP Functional Consultants, are once again in high demand.

Activity in Eastern Canada through the second quarter can best be described as spotty. Much like the weather, some days it's bright and optimistic, but mostly dark clouds and rainy days. It's hard to say definitively where the market is headed, but organizations overall continue to be nervous and cautious in their project and hiring plans. Most pundits and industry observers are predicting a long, slow recovery from this economic turmoil.

In Ottawa, Nortel, the once technology giant and anchor that was the foundation of Ottawa's Silicon Valley North, is getting chopped and sold piece by piece while in bankruptcy. A number of smaller technology companies continue to operate, but none with the job and economic clout of a Nortel. The Federal government has become the engine that drives the market. While the focus of the government's economic stimulus is on infrastructure type projects and there are no real dollars or plan for the technology services industry, it is hoped there will be indirect benefits in IT as the money makes its way through the economy.

Overall, the second quarter saw no bump in demand from the Feds as a result of post year-end “March madness”, as new budgets saw little or no net new funding in IT. At a macro level, the bureaucracy is focused on the "issue " of bundling contracts, particularly GENS, the government's first shared services attempt to award one large contract for network services across the government. It is undoubtedly the largest IT project in a very long time, both in years and dollars, likely billions. The political furor that it's caused as SMEs fight to be included has been loud and furious, perhaps to the detriment of other projects and certainly away from any sense of business as usual, if there is still such a thing. It is hoped the summer break will allow cooler heads to prevail and activity will increase once again in the fall. Other smaller initiatives like significant changes to the EI program and programs directed to monitoring and combating a potential fall flu epidemic will require increased resources in Health and HRSDC.

Montreal too has been quiet as the manufacturing sector continues to suffer; however, there appear to be signs that the there will be increased demand for IT jobs in the financial sector in Montreal.

Jobs in demand in the region this quarter included Security (all aspects), Infrastructure, Desktop and Network/System Administrators, as well as skilled, experienced Oracle resources.

Its Time to SPEND!

The world economies have been through an economic crisis that is unprecedented in the lives of most managers ... certainly the executives I know have seen nothing like it.

The bad news AND the good news about our economic system is that so much of it relies upon sentiment ... an intangible called "confidence" can mean the difference between a strong economy and a weak economy. Right now there are a lot of people erring on the side of caution, and I can understand that ... but we need to introduce confidence back into our world!

The impact on companies has been dire ... but in the same way that nature, in the wild, "culls" the weak ... so too does this kind of economy.

• Weak, underperforming companies have gone under.
• Companies have trimmed their fat.
• Underperforming employees (along with good perofrming employees) have been laid off.

The net result is that those companies left are generally the stronger performers in their niche and they are stronger still, for having survived this recession. The "culling" has taken place and NOW its time to get the ball rolling again.

• Companies with good "fundamentals" are under valued, providing a good opportunity for investors.
• The price of oil is back above $60 which is healthy for the oil industry but not yet back in the $150 range which can have a tough ipact in other ways.
• The Canadian dollar is strong.
• Money is relatively inexpensive.

So ... what is stopping us from accelerating into a full recovery? CONFIDENCE.

What needs to happen now is that market leaders need to "get in the game"! They need to invest in growth ... spend some money on those technology projects they have been putting off, pull the trigger on that M&A activity, start up the big construction projects. Governments need to spend ... instead of talking about stimulus packages, they need to DO SOMETHING.

We are very close to a recovery, I can almost smell it! Tell everyone you know ... ITS TIME TO SPEND!

Let's get the party going!!!!

Good Habits

Good habits are a cornerstone for success ...

If you watch a professional athlete training, they practice and practice and practice until they master a skill, and then they practice it regularly to ensure that they don't lose it.

If you watch a professional at work they can make their "skill" seem effortless. The race car driver, the soccer player, the hockey player ... their skills can take our breath away sometimes, but they make it seem effortless.

The same kind of dedication comes into play in any profession ... if you want to be the best then you need to work at it. If you don't want to be just another "fill-in-the blank" then you have to make a commitment to mastering your "trade".

Talent is not enough! The world is filled with talented people who "didn't make it".

Intelligence is not enough! The world is filled with very bright people who are not living up to their potential.

Talent and intelligence when coupled with a good work ethic can definitely create a superstar ... and there are many examples of people who, through sheer effort managed to rise to the top!

So ... what do you need to do?

1. Whatever your role is ... find the people that are the most successful at that role and understand why they are successful.
2. Isolate the skills, knowledge and traits of the top performers.
3. Understand how you could emulate them.
4. Develop a plan, that you will commit to executing, to get your skills, knowledge and traits as close to the top performers as possible.

What does that mean?

Perhaps you are in sales. Identify the top performers in your company, and understand why they are successful.

• Perhaps the top rep has great relationships in a big spending account.
• Maybe the number two rep has great time management skills and is incredibly productive.
• The number three rep might have in depth technical knowledge that they use to differentiate from competition.

You need to develop a plan to create great relationships in your accounts ... What does that mean? How do you do it? Who can help? What training do you need?
You need to learn. practice and master time management skills that will work for you, to make you super productive.
You need to increase your technical knowledge and set a bar that is achievable ... but a stretch. It needs to be enough to differentiate from your competition.

If all of that sounds like work ... it is! That is what successful people do, they invest in themselves, work hard and get to become great at what they do. Then they make it look easy ... which is what is so deceptive to everyone else looking on!

Why I am Proud to Work in the Staffing Industry!

I will often talk about the value that the Staffing Industry brings to the Canadian economy, in fact ALL economies. In a January blog entry called the Staffing Industry I pulled together links to several pieces I had written about our value proposition, statistics and facts about our industry and about the industry association.

People who work in our industry for any length of time do get passionate about it and there are few more passionate than our current Industry Association (ACSESS) President, Steve Jones.

At the annual industry association conference in Montreal this year he gave a rousing speech about our industry ... the salient points of which are below. Everything that he says is true and he paints an eloquent picture of our industry, far better than I could.

Consider these points that he made…..

• We are the single largest employment pipeline for job seekers, job changers, up graders, new immigrants, new entrants, students and career changers.
• Last year, our industry provided hundreds of thousands of Canadians with opportunities for full time careers, contract work and temporary employment.
• We make the process of job finding, job changing and upgrading easier, quicker and more effective. When a candidate makes one contact with a staffing company they enhance their network through us, to our clients and employers by dozens – even hundreds.
• We can take credit for removing barriers that job seekers might otherwise experience.
• We create and provide access to employment opportunities giving people the dignity and respect that they deserve.
• We lead all industries in foreign skill assessment and recognition of foreign experience.
• We are the buffer between unsuspecting workers and unsafe workplaces. Our safety programs, education, communication, worksite inspection and operational standards ensure that workers are assigned to safe work environments. We play a vital role in the reduction of workplace lost time injuries, illnesses and fatalities. For example, empirical data in Ontario proved that we lead all industry groups in the reduction of lost time injuries.
• We help people and businesses to make the right fit, enhancing productivity, improving employment longevity while contributing to employee satisfaction.
• We are an ombudsman, agent and filter between employers and potential future employees. We protect their rights and help them achieve their career objectives.
• We provide income and income security for people who need it the most. When a man or women needs income for a short term to pay rent, or feed a child then temporary help will provide a lifeline for a day, a week or a month.
• We help doctors, nurses, lawyers, engineers, IT professionals, accountants, administrators, drivers and labourers. We help executives and students, new immigrants, return to work moms, injured workers and the semi-retired. Every Canadian has the opportunity to benefit from our services.
• Every day, we make a meaningful difference in the lives of the people we serve. Simply put, we help people! We give people dignity. We contribute to their happiness while we deliver the right people that employers need to succeed.

Steve’s closing words - “I am proud to be a friend to so many industry colleagues. I am proud of what we do. I am especially proud to be the President of ACSESS because of all that ACSESS does and all we represent. I know that we share this pride. So please, go out and tell the world your proud story. You deserve the recognition”.

Advice From Some Proven Leaders

Catching up on some reading lately I came across an article from Inc magazine, titled 6 CEOs Share Their Biggest Regrets. I am always open to good advice, especially from people who have "been there" so I checked it out.

There were no startling surprises, there were some sound lessons learned the hard way ... and listening to people like this is one way to avoid those hard lessons. Some are a little whimsical, but overall the article is a quick read and worthwhile.

There were two of the CEOs with a similar thread ... both regretting that they didn't involve other people. Trying to do it all alone or being very "I" focused can be especially tough as an entrepreneur. One of the things I tell people when they ask, is that I am happy that I founded Eagle with partners and the potential loss of "equity" has been more than compensated by the ability to spread the load. I also doubt we would have been as successful as a one man show!

One CEO in this article regrets dropping out of school. I left school at 16 to go in the Royal Navy. I later went back to school. My opinion is that our current success, the person that we are today, is a result of ALL our experiences ... good and bad. I don't regret any of my life choices, because I am quite content with who I am today. This CEO could always choose to go back to school tomorrow ... if he REALLY wanted to.

In the same vein as the Inc article, is an article in July's issue of Fortune magazine. This one is titled "The Best Advice I Ever Got" ... and features people like Bill Gates, Tiger Woods, Colin Powell and other successful people.

Tiger Woods advice was "Keep it Simple" ... which was remarkably similar to Warren Buffett's advice to Bill Gates. Tiger was talking about learning to golf as a kid, playing with his father. His father didn't try to work on all the different things that might affect his swing, he just told him to "figure it out". Woods still thinks about his dad's advice when readjusting a shot in a tournament today!

There is lots of good advice in this article ... one that I liked was imparted to Mohamed El-Erian the CEO of Pimco by his father. His father used to get 4 newspapers every day, all with differing political viewpoints. His advice to his son was that unless you read different points of view your mind becomes closed ... and you become a prisoner to one point of view. Essentially the proverbial blinkers come on!

I have had lots of advice over the years, some good and some not so good ... I hope I have learned from it all. If someone asked me to impart some wisdom to an ambitious young person entering the workforce I would have to point them at Steven Covey's 7 Habits ...

Habit 1: Be Proactive: Principles of Personal Choice
Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind: Principles of Personal Vision
Habit 3: Put First Things First: Principles of Integrity & Execution
Habit 4: Think Win/Win: Principles of Mutual Benefit
Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood: Principles of Mutual Understanding
Habit 6: Synergize: Principles of Creative Cooperation
Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw: Principles of Balanced Self-Renewal

Developing good habits early, and understanding that you are always learning provides a great foundation for success!

Communication

The importance of good, and regular communication is critical in business, in any relationship and indeed most situations of any kind.

Not that long ago I blogged about Managing Through a Downturn and certainly regular communication was an important part of the proposed approach.

Here in Ottawa there has been significant sentiment around the requested transfer (and subsequent non-acceptance of the offered solution) by star hockey player Dany Heatley. What has been absolutely noticeable throughout this saga is the total lack of comment from Heatley. I read some good advice about staying silent: Speculation is rarely as flattering as the truth!

The following humourous story provides (a) some light relief and (b) a good example of why good communication is critical!

A photographer for a national magazine was assigned to take pictures of a great forest fire.

He was advised that a small plane would be waiting to fly him over the fire.

The photographer arrived at the airstrip just an hour before sundown. Sure enough, a small Cessna airplane was waiting.

He jumped in with his equipment and shouted, "Let's go!"

The tense man sitting in the pilot's seat swung the plane into the wind and soon they were in the air, though flying erratically.

"Fly over the north side of the fire," said the photographer, "And make several low-level passes."

"Why?" asked the nervous pilot.

"Because I'm going to take pictures!" yelled the photographer. "I'm a photographer, and photographers take pictures!"

The pilot replied, "You mean you're not the flight instructor?"

The Power of Thinking Positive!

I wrote a blog entry a few days ago called And We Thought IT Project Management was Bad ... the purpose of which was to highlight some areas where obvious gains could be made in the construction industry.

I had a few people comment to me personally that it sounded like things were a little tense around my moving into a new apartment. That made me stop and think a little.

Yes ... there have been some issues but that is generally expected.
Yes ... our focus with the apartment has been more on getting the issues fixed than on enjoying all of the positive aspects of our new home.
Yes ... in retrospect, when I re-read my earlier blog I could see there was some "emotion" showing through!

I am generally one of the most positive people I know ... and its something I work at! Some people, and I'm one of them, are naturally predisposed to be positive but everyone can fall into a "funk". So ... it is important to actually WORK at being positive.

In this particular case my focus has been on the negative aspects of my new home, and in the current stage of the project that is taking up a lot of "mind space". The problem is that the associated negativity will spill over into other areas of my life , and if I'm not careful I may be taking my frustrations about a home project out on people at work. Not good!

So ... back to the title of this blog entry. The mind is incredibly powerful and most of the time we operate in an automatic manner .... we are who we are. Sometime we need to influence that "attitude" to ensure that we are staying positive, and not getting "down".

So added to my "To Do" list for today is the creation of a list of all the positive, wonderful, joyful things associated with my new home ... such as the 10 minute WALK to work, or the fantastic view of the Parliament Buildings, Ottawa River and Gatineau Hills from the 18th floor. it shouldn't take long for me to chase those negative thoughts out of the brain!

I wrote a blog entry a little while ago called Don't Sweat the Small Stuff ... and really unless we are talking health, life and death its ALL small stuff! The theme was similar and I suggested that we should CHOOSE to be happy. Read it!

Of course just to make sure I'm definitely on track for a positive experience I'll subscribe to my personal theory and Walk Fast and Smile!!!

June 2009 - IT Industry news

This is my 30,000 foot look at events in the ICT industry for June 2009. What you see here is a précis of the monthly report I produce, which is available in more detail at the Eagle website. You will also find back issues on the website.


It was three years ago in June 2006 that Warren Buffet donated $30 Billion to the Gates Foundation … given the performance of all of our portfolios I wonder if he regrets giving that much! Two years ago in June 2007 there was some heavy duty money “flying” with Avaya bought for $8.2 billion, Ceridian for $5.3 billion and Solectron bought by Flextronics for $3.6 billion.

Last year in June 2008 the economy was rocked by high oil prices, the fallout from the sub debt crisis and signs of inflation. The big deal saw the Carlyle Group buy the US Government business of Booz Allen Hamilton for $2.54 billion. Other than that deal there was plenty of M&A activity, Nokia paid $410 million to complete its ownership of Symbian; NEC bought Nutcracker for $300 million; Cogeco bought Toronto Hydro Telecom for $200 million; Progress paid $162 million for Iona; Barracuda Networks offered $186 million for Sourcefire and Belden paid $133 million for Trapeze Networks.

June 2009 is a different world … there continues to be some optimism that the economy is beginning to recover, but like the McKinsey report suggests expectations started so gloomy that optimism is a relative thing! General consensus appears to support a long, slow recovery and thus we are still seeing large numbers of layoffs, salary reductions and slow spending. A Robert Half survey in the US suggests that there will be more CIOs hiring than cutting in the next year, and Gartner tells us that sales of business intelligence software grew 22% in 2008 … so there are some bright lights.

On the M&A front June was not a blockbuster month although a couple of deals were significant. Intel paid $884 million for Wind River Systems as a foray outside of the PC world into embedded systems. The other large deal saw Nokia Siemens take advantage of the fire-sale at Nortel, picking up their CDMA and LTE assets for a $650 million. Among the other deals RIM picked up a GPS systems company suggesting that they may be planning on competing with the very impressive iPhone GPS capability.

On the good news front it was good to see Apple boss Steve Jobs back at work following his liver transplant and we all can be thankful that Canada is NOT following China’s lead and installing “Green Dam Youth Escort” on all new PCs!

Until next month!

That's what caught my eye over the last month, the full edition is available by clicking here to go to the appropriate part of Eagle's website. Hope this was useful and I’ll be back with the June 2009 news in just about a month’s time.

And We Thought IT Project Management was bad!

This past weekend I moved into my new condo ... and this experience demonstrates that despite the well documented woes associated with large software projects, there are other industries that have big problems!

I will start out with the disclaimer that I love my new home and when all of the "issues", big and small, have been addressed I am going to love it. It is on the 18th and 19th floors, has terrific views of Ottawa and everything is new and shiny!

So ... back to that project management thing.

We bought the unit almost 3 1/2 years ago in February 2006 and the original occupancy date was July 2007, which quickly was changed to September 2007. This suited us just fine because that coincided with our son's enrollment in university ... quickly downsize the house before he comes back to live with us!!! :-)

Over the course of time the occupancy date changed several times until at the beginning of May this year (2009) we settled on a June 15th date. It became clear that date was not going to be met and so we finally moved in (kind of) on June 26th. I say "kind of" because we were able to move in but had no occupancy permit until Tuesday of this week (June 30th).

So ... what happened, what is happening and what lessons can all projects learn from this kind of experience.

1. LOTS of finger pointing and "infighting". I am amazed at the amount of energy spent on blaming everyone else for what doesn't go right rather than everyone focusing on a common goal.

Lesson: When multiple parties are working together it is imperative that the "team" gels and that has to happen from the top. All of those leaders should be supporting each other towards one common goal.

2. Work done ... and done again! It seems to be impossible for people to do "the job" right first time. I am continually amazed at the effort expended in fixing things that were done wrong the first time.

Lessons: I think there are a few here but certainly pride of workmanship has to be a factor. Again leadership needs to instill a commitment to quality and provide training and support to ensure things are done right the first time. That little extra time spent up front would pay off in spades later.

3. Project management tools. My perception is that the project is managed through "the experience" of the project manager(s). I have not seen pert charts, critical path diagrams or any other such tools implemented in this environment. It seems that labour is allocated to the "squeaky wheel" rather than to a master plan. Coupled with all of the work "re-done" it seems to me that there is a huge waste of people's time.

Lessons: I could be wrong, but the application of a good project management software in a project office type environment could really help.

4. Cleanliness. It may tie in with the work being re-done because finished work is often damaged because of poor habits. Workers walking on hardwood floors with stones and other construction dirt on their work boots causes serious damage; workers damage the paintwork and finished cabinetry through neglect and as a byproduct of their dirty work clothes.

Lessons: Get the dirty work done first ... then insist on good practices, take shoes off, clean work clothes etc.

I'm sure there are many opinions about why the construction industry needs to be the way it is ... but change is everywhere and this is an industry that could benefit from a different approach and attitude!

The next time our industry is getting hammered for a failed/late project I will tell them a construction story about a condo that was two years late ... and still lots of work to be done!