A Career in Government?

I live in Canada’s capital city, Ottawa which is where a large majority of civil servants also live and work. In some respects Ottawa is a little more like Washington than perhaps London, England, The government is the primary employer in both Ottawa and Washington, whereas London also has a strong private sector economy.

I have never worked for the government, but have worked for some very large organizations with their own bureaucracies that seem to be inherent in all large companies.

I wrote a blog entry some time ago about why government workers get a bad rap and thought it would make sense to balance out the score card a little.

We have three levels of government here in Canada, Federal, Provincial and municipal. The civil servants who work for these governments are tasked with implementing the policies and laws imposed by the politicians and law-makers. I have upon occasion been quite vocal about some political decisions … but that really doesn’t reflect on the civil servants who just implement the wishes of our politicians.

Having lived here for many years I know lots of people who work in government and guess what … they are just like everyone in the private sector.

> There are various levels of motivation, there are various levels of skill, there are various levels of commitment and drive … just like in private sector.
> There are different frustrations … government typically don’t go bankrupt, or need to worry about the bottom line. However companies don’t often have radical swings in corporate direction depending upon who is running the show.
> In private sector you can often get things done purely based on ROI, in government you have to demonstrate fairness to all suppliers, include all stakeholders and keep your political masters out of the press!
> In private sector if you have a great idea, run with it, implement it and make it successful then likely you will be financially rewarded, perhaps even with your own company. In government you will likely be rewarded with more responsibility!
> We like to think we work long hours in private sector and those government guys all go home early … I think the reality is that there are plenty of government workers who put in long hours and plenty of private sector workers who slack off.
> In private sector if we need to get rid of someone we can fire them, in government its “possible” but the pain is so acute that very few people get fired.
> In private sector we can act and make things happen quickly … the bureaucracy in government can make it very frustrating for people to make things happen quickly.

We NEED to have capable people in both public and private sector … and that’s exactly what we have. It would naive to think of government workers as in any way less capable than private sector workers … or vice versa. Each has a different environment and different challenges … the good people navigate to the top in either world.

Recently when talking to some people about potential careers, I have suggested that government could actually be a great career. There is plenty of opportunity with the coming “Baby Boomer” retirement wave, there is an appetite for change and government invests in its employees through training and career advancement.

Worth a thought if at this time of year you are one of the thousands of new graduates considering your options.

The Client is NOT Always Right

Ya I know ... now I'm probably going to upset all my clients and go out of business!!!

Bear with me here ... if, as a staffing company, my core business is finding the right talent at the right time for a good price then I would expect that I can bring REAL value to my client.

One of the things that often happens in any business, and very often in ours, is that our client tells us what they want to happen ... and we are expected to just "do it".

IF we am good at what we do (and I think we are) and we just do what we are told, rather than what we think we should be doing then we are really not bringing true value to our client.

Think about that ...

The REAL value I can bring to the table is helping our clients to develop a strategic approach to getting the people they need. Sure I can get them bodies, and too often that is all we do ... BUT we can do so much more.

It is the same in almost every industry, particularly service industries ... companies just do what they are told, or do what they have always done ... yet they could be so much more effective if they would apply their core knowledge and come up with new and innovative ways to help their clients.

One problem is that clients often don't want to listen ... and an even bigger problem is that we suppliers don't find ways to get the message across that they could get so much more, if they would step back and listen.

Another problem is that sometimes a progressive client wants us to get innovative ... and we are not ready!

An interesting challenge in a time of great change AND great opportunity.

Are YOU up for it?

Common Courtesy

Common courtesy is a phrase I don't hear very much these days, and yet it is common courtesy that in many ways defines the "civility" of our civilization.

There are many ways to demonstrate common courtesy and I have written relevant blog entries in the past. For instance I wrote a blog in June 2007 ... Say Please and Thank You. Certainly those are words that most of us appreciate and yet many people just don't bother ... what's up with that?

I wrote a blog entry last year entitled Thoughtfulness ... which again is something that I think everyone appreciates as a recipient, but many of us forget to practice. Yet it is one of the things that makes everyday life better.

A couple of months ago I wrote an entry about Nice People ... and how nice people really are good to be around, yet the label "nice" can sometimes be interpreted as boring, which is a little unfair.

Nice people, thoughtful people, the kind of people who say please and thank you are typically people who practice common courtesy. They will try to put themselves in the shoes of the "other person" and treat them the way they would like to be treated.

It doesn't take much to treat people well"

> Set the right expectations about any time of communication;
> treat them respectfully;
> be honest with them;
> treat them fairly;
> be thoughtful;
> say please and thank you; and
> treat them like you would reasonably want to be treated.

There that wasn't so hard was it?

If we all operated in that manner it would be a nicer world.

Friends

It has been a while since I blogged on this topic, so I thought it was timely to revisit.

Almost three years ago the blog entry was called When You Need a Friend ... and the title is pretty self explanatory. It is when you are in need that you find out who your real friends are. The little twist I threw in was that it can apply equally to individuals as to companies ... because each is in need of a friend at various times.

Late in 2008 I wrote a blog entry entitled Friendship ... which talked about the value of friendship, the need to nurture friendships and the fact that as a business owner focused on the needs of building and growing a business I have probably neglected that investment needed to develop lasting friendships.

Here we are in 2010 and things have changed a little for me. We are now empty nesters, which theoretically gives us more time to work on friendships. We have done some more of that, but we have also travelled more which makes it hard to plan "get togethers". Overall I would say that we are getting better but still a work in progress:-)

Its also funny that as you get older you think a little more about this subject. I don't think I'm old (although there are probably more than a few who might argue that point) but good friends are a valuable commodity and they become more valuable with the passing of time.

Like anything in life the more you put into a relationship the more you will get back. We know a lot of people through various means, business, soccer, hockey etc but typically they are busy, just like us ... so its hard to make the time necessary to build lasting friendships. There are some who make an effort, which makes it easier to reciprocate which is how any relationship builds. When the effort is more on one side the relationship (friendship or more) is probably not destined to work out in the long term.

I am grateful for the friends I have, and the friends that Eagle has ... we will keep working at those relationships AND at adding more!

Do you give as much as you get from you friends?

Canada's Federal Government and the Temp Industry

There was yet another article in the local paper today taking a run at the temporary help industry … and once again it is to do with the Federal Government. Let’s look at some realities:

What do these agencies do:

They supply qualified labour in a “just in time” environment at extremely competitive prices.

In order to do this the agencies manage literally thousands of applicants ... they screen, interview, test and comply with all federal and provincial employment rules. They respond to RFPs, provide security checks, and report back into the government on a regular basis creating EVEN more mountains of paperwork.

Government managers could not “get stuff done” if they did not have access to this flexible workforce capable of stepping in at a moments notice to cover off absences, take on projects or just help cope with peaks in workload.

Let’s examine some of the “Knocks” against this industry:

1. Profits … some people suggest that the staffing industry charge HUGE markups on the cost of an individual. It is funny how the facts so easily elude people who talk about this:

(a) The HUGE markups include all of the federally and provincially mandated deductions that include income taxes, CPP, EI and workers comp.
(b) Tacked somewhere in the markup is a piece to cover off the costs of the agency operations and its staff, in addition to financing the payroll for the temps until the government pay their invoices.
(c) After all of those direct costs Statistics Canada numbers suggest that the staffing industry profits are in the 3 to 5 % range … hardly excessive.

2. Temps are an expensive solution for the Federal Government.

An “apples to apples” comparison would suggest that temps are actually a very cost effective solution when you consider the costs of training, pensions (indexed), benefits, various options for leave (paid maternity leave, stress leaves etc), and the management time required to manage an employee’s career etc.

3. The Government should have their own in-house agency to save money.

The government does a lot of things well, and a number of things not so well. Here are just three reasons why the government doing it themselves would not be a good option.

(a) Speed. The government is not known to operate fast, and that is a critical factor in the temporary help industry. When a client needs help they need it now, not “in a while”.
(b) Cost. It would be my contention that to get enough government workers to operate an internal agency they would far exceed the costs of the existing agency staff. It is a very fast paced, high volume environment and I’m not convinced that a unionized, government-manned operation could do it … and certainly not in a cost effective manner.
(c) Bureaucracy. The temporary business is paper bound today, complying with all of the various levels of government regulations. Imagine how much more bureaucracy would be associated with an internal government operation. Look at the Public Service Commission who are trying to deal with a rising tide of retiring employees and have a great deal of trouble just keeping up!

4. The temporary workers are cheated out of getting government jobs.

An interesting perspective but totally wrong. Many, many temps go on to find full time employment in the Federal government having got their start through an agency. There are those who don’t get a full time job but would like one … there could be a lot of reasons for that:

(a) There might not be a long term position available;
(b) The temp might not have the right qualifications (even though they are doing the job … whole other story);
(c) The government manager might not WANT the person as a full time employee.
(d) There might be an ongoing “competition” through the government process that the temp is not eligible to partake in.

Individual concerns about not being hired usually have very good reasons. We know that the government hire lots of temp employees into their full time ranks. A staffing industry survey suggests that 80% of temps use "temping" as a bridge to something else, a new career, a new job, a new employer, etc.; about 20% of temps CHOOSE it because it fits their lifestyle, they don’t want a “regular” job.

5. The use of temps is a means of getting around the government process.

(a) If the government was my business I would have to ask myself whether there is something wrong with the process!!!!
(b) Government managers need to get things done … so operating within their guidelines they get people where they can. Perhaps the government should talk to their managers and ask how they can make things better.

Canada, like every industrialized nation will be faced with growing skills and labour shortages as we emerge from this recession. Government should be looking at new and innovative ways to attract, hire and retain people through right now, not finding ever more creative ways to hurt an industry that brings so much value.

Diversity days ... It's EARTH DAY Today

HISTORY

In September 1969, U.S Senator Gaylord Nelson announced that in the spring of 1970 there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration on the environment. He proposed this protest to drive the environment onto the National Agenda. April 22nd, Earth Day marks the anniversary of the birth of the environmental movement.

Earth Day is meant to promote environmental citizenship and encourage year round progressive action worldwide. It aims to create environmental awareness around the world and to change local, national and global policies.

NOTABLE EARTH DAY MOMENTS

Earth Day 1990 gave a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide.

Earth Day 2000 sent a message around the world for action on clean energy.

Earth Day 2007 was the largest Earth Day to date with an estimated billion people participating in activities around the world.


People around the world are trying to make a difference by supporting Earth Day ... the bigger challenge is in protecting our planet so that it is still inhabitable for our children and their children!

Giving Presentations

Today I gave a presentation to CGA Calgary … it was the first time I have given a presentation in a while, so I was a little rusty. I took it as a good opportunity to remind myself of some basics, one of which has to be that practice makes perfect ... so I need to do more presenting!!!

Preparation Beforehand.

An obvious one but the better prepared you are the more you can loosen up and be natural. So make sure you know your material, understand how much time you have, plan the presentation to fit the time and practice it.

When you get there.

Get there early, make sure that the set up works for you and get everything ready to go. That can mean having any props ready (in this case I used my iphone and eReader as examples of technology change); ensuring any technology works and is set up right laptop, projector etc; understand if a mike is needed or not; understand how the slides are going to be flipped (by you or someone else, on the computer a mouse or remotely); practice with the setup particularly if any of it is unfamiliar; set up your watch or a clock so you can be conscious of time.

During the presentation.

Think about the pace, are people understanding what you say, are you talking too fast (a common problem). When talking to the audience try to make eye contact with as many people as possible. Add a little humour if at all possible … there were several comments from this group that they appreciated the levity in today's session. Make sure you are giving them some meat and that the talk is relevant. In this case I was talking about the Changing Workplace and what it means to them. The kinds of opportunities and challenges it brings and what they might like to think about.

Afterwards.

At the end of many presentations the audience does not come up with any questions, which was the case here. If I was “on my game” I would have prompted some questions, but I had not prepared for that and didn’t want to blow it. A few years ago I gave a presentation to the Entrepreneurs Club at the University of Ottawa, after which there were no questions. I was up on a stage addressing a dinner crowd, so I jumped down walked out to the middle and addressed a question to myself, then climbed back up on stage and answered myself. It gave people a laugh and opened the gates to a bunch of questions!

This is a subject that I have addressed before in this blog … so you could check out my blog entry about Giving Presentations from September 2008. I also wrote a blog entry specifically about Toastmasters back in May 2007 … The Power of Toastmasters. They are a great organization and a low risk way to learn and improve your presentation skills.

I guess this taught me that I will have to get out more … I quite enjoyed the speaking and the topic would be good for many groups. Look for my world tour!!!

Persistence ... or STALKING?

I am proud to tell people that my background is in sales, it is a profession that I hold in high regard and one without which most companies could not exist! We do however suffer, like many professions, from a couple of drawbacks:

(a) people still associate the sales profession with some of the “old school” tactics employed by some car salesmen in times gone by; and
(b) there are still salespeople today who give our profession a bad name through their less than professional tactics.

I wrote a blog entry called The Profession of Selling back in September that talked about the need to listen to clients, to understand their “pain” and only then to understand how our product or service might help.

Three years ago, in July 2007, I wrote a blog entry about Cold Calling … which had some tips about this sales tool, and how to be effective in cold calling. The subject of today’s blog entry is related to cold calling.

An unnamed company in the investment business has recently “rattled my cage” a little, prompting this blog entry. As a company they are aggressively pursuing new clients and for that I applaud them … the problem comes in the implementation of their strategy, which could be a company problem or a sales person problem. It is always the company that “wears it”, when a sales person creates the wrong impression such as in this case.

Their strategy is a classic one … send a “piece” in the mail, differentiate yourself in some way (in this case they enclose a one dollar US bill) and then follow up by phone.

By differentiating in the mailer the sales person has something to open a conversation with, that will hopefully lead to a more meaningful discussion … nothing wrong so far.

However …

1. the dollar bill does not buy any rights with the prospect. To “assume” (as in this case) that the client should now spend time talking with you is arrogant and “off putting” for many people; and
2. IF the tactic does not get you what you want, then you need to find another way to get the prospects attention. In the case of this company, the salesperson felt that if they called every day then at some point we would break down and call back, or accept their call. NEVER going to happen!

As a professional salesperson you are always trying to get “mind space” with your prospects … there are MANY ways to do that and the most effective ways involve referrals and getting to know something that interests your prospect before you try to batter down their door! Just pounding on the door is annoying and not very effective. Once you annoy your prospect, you lose!

There is a fine line between persistence and stalking … calling someone every day is absolutely stalking! Calling on a weekly basis with the right message (professional, courteous and demonstrating some willingness to bring value) is probably OK … but even that in some cases could be borderline.

Sales people need to build credibility with their clients in order to be successful, this particular guy is going about it the wrong way! In doing that he perpetuates the perceptions that all salespeople employ these type of tactics ... not good for our profession, not good for his company and hopefully he finds a different profession soon!

Travel, Risk and Reward

The volcanic ash spewing from an Icelandic volcano (Eyjafjallajokull ) has caused disruption on a scale that is hard to fathom. I have a number of thoughts on this subject ...

1. Business Travel. I have written before about the "joys" of business travel, and how hard it is on the person travelling, their wardrobe, their wallet, their family and their social life. In my wildest dreams I couldn't have forecast a situation where most of Europe could not be serviced by air ... I couldn't imagine being stuck across an ocean with no idea how long it might last. Sure it might be close to done ... but it could also get worse!

2. Business Risk. It is said that the airlines are losing $200 million a day! How can any organization absorb that kind of cost? Are we seeing more bailouts in our future? How do the countries just recovering from a major recession afford to bail this industry out?

3. Personal hit. I was planning to be in the UK for a quick visit to see my family ... my flight has been cancelled and the window of opportunity has gone. There are some things in life that just can't be controlled!

What is that saying ... "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference." --Reinhold Niebuhr, The Serenity Prayer.

Canadian IT Job Market - Quarterly Outlook

This is a look at the Canadian IT Job market across Canada from our (Eagle) 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.

The overall job market across the country continues to show positive signs. Although the unemployment rate was barely affected, Statistics Canada reported an increase of 18,000 jobs throughout March, with Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan leading the way in growth. Specific to Canada’s Information Technology sector, each region is showing different signs, some more positive than others, but generally, there are many signs pointing to many new opportunities in the coming months.

The IT job market activity throughout Western Canada varies across the region, with a number of different factors affecting activity levels. Over the last quarter in British Columbia, Vancouver hosted the Olympic Games and, as a result, experienced an increase in job market activity. The end of the games, though, in combination with government year-end, caused a drop in these activity levels, specifically in government, creating some challenges within the market. Most hiring activity is coming from the financial sectors and some crown corporations, with the province’s hottest skills being Storage, SAP, Senior Infrastructure and health-specific roles.

Although still not at the level it was before the recession, Edmonton’s hiring activity has picked up in the last quarter. Top IT contractors are starting to report that they are receiving multiple offers and some slower moving companies have even lost candidates to other opportunities. Additionally, there has been more interest from IT professionals in permanent positions to consider the potential of contract work; this is a marked change from three months ago. Companies are continuing to be rate sensitive, however, which keeps the market in check, although the low supply of Business Analysts is causing marginal increases in their rates. Many of the open positions are functional in nature and Edmonton’s high-demand roles are BAs, PMs, and ERP (SAP and Oracle) specialists.

Calgary's IT job market remained relatively strong over the last three months, driven primarily by the Oil and Gas sector. Utilities have been particularly slow to return to investing in their IT initiatives, but as this year continues, companies around Calgary are becoming more aggressive with spending and their IT budgets have been opening up. In particular, there appears to be growing interest in infrastructure projects as many were put on hold during the recession, and with new Microsoft Exchange, Office and Windows suites being released, it looks as though this trend will continue.

The impact of this quarter’s activity in Calgary is being felt in a number of ways. Most of the top talent is now back to work, multiple offers are becoming more common and companies who have been doing their own recruiting are now returning to agencies for assistance. Furthermore, while rates have remained stable over the last three months, pressure is beginning to build. Companies are beginning to offer contract extensions for longer periods to lock in rates; contractors, on the other hand, are testing the waters outside of their current roles. Similar to other Western Canadian regions, Calgary’s hot skills in demand this quarter are PMs, BAs, Architects, SAP and Infrastructure specialists, in addition to more interest in ECM (Livelink) and asset management professionals. Buzz on the streets suggest that there could be a lot of SAP projects kicked off later this year and talk of large outsourcing initiatives are commonplace.

In Manitoba, both municipal and provincial governments have decided to cut costs by using short-term contractors to govern any gaps, increasing the province’s contract activity toward the end of this past quarter. Rates, however, have remained level over the last three months due to out-of-town resources who are remaining competitive and not requesting large premiums for the travel. With the increased activity in other regions, though, this won’t be the case for long. Currently, hot skills in Manitoba are Infrastructure Specialists, Developers, and BAs.

The Greater Toronto Area (GTA)’s IT job market is showing many healthy signs of growth through a significant increase in hiring activity. The region’s financial institutions are still demanding large numbers of resources to fill both permanent and contracting roles to help staff the many projects they have on the go. As well, the major systems integrators are engaging in new projects, resulting in more requirements for contract resources. Overall, IT professionals are seeing more opportunities throughout Toronto and being presented with multiple offers; however, short contract durations shrinking to one or two month terms seems to be a current trend.

Hot skills in the region include Business Transformation professionals, as well as ERP specialists, including SAP Functional Consultants, Oracle Financials and PeopleSoft Resources. In addition, permanent opportunities are still on the rise, particularly in banking and retail companies, where needs seem to be focused around PMs, Infrastructure Managers, BAs, and Enterprise Architects.

With an early spring already weeks underway in Eastern Canada, markets continue to be mixed. Aside from the Government fiscal year end flurry, the Ottawa market was steady, if not quiet, while Montreal showed little sign of slowing down. The increased activity in Ottawa during year-end was largely around extending and approving current projects, as opposed to starting any net new initiatives. Now that the federal government’s fiscal year end has come and gone, and new budgets, plans and funding approvals are in place, Ottawa is shifting into a more normal pattern. But what is the new normal in Ottawa?

The Ottawa market is entering a different fiscal environment as the remaining stimulus money filters its way through the system (for the most part far outside of any IM/IT targets) and the Feds wrestle with freezes, cutbacks and rationalization to help deal with significant fiscal deficits in the years ahead. Although there are a number of "rust -out " systems and applications need to be renewed, a fresh wave of new e-services demanded and cyber security more urgent than ever, the bottom line is that budget demand will far out-strip capacity to fund and government will no doubt have to streamline and become more efficient. There is absolute talk in Ottawa of hiring freezes and reductions, certainly through attrition and other means that may see the reduction in size of 10,000 jobs in Ottawa alone in the next few years. With demographics not being kind to technology leadership in the government, specifically in that the bulk of senior managers in IM/IT who are set to soon retire, will that void now be addressed at all? If so, will it now likely be augmented by subcontractors, outsourcing or other non-traditional hiring methods? In other areas, industry continues to collaborate and work with the Feds to streamline and make procurement more effective and efficient, now with the bulk of the IM/IT spend coming through the new TBIPS contract vehicle.

Outside of government in Ottawa, it is a very different story. Technology employment fell again in March to the lowest level we've seen in four years as a par Canadian dollar hammered what was left of a once vibrant local high tech industry. Hot skills in Ottawa include Application Architects, Senior BAs and PMs, as well as GIS resources and .NET Developers.

In Montreal, there continues to be very strong demand through the spring months, particularly in the Banking, Financial Services sector, as well as in Telecom. There is an increase in both permanent and contract demand that began in the fall and has sustained itself through the New Year. There is no doubt an industry challenge in finding enough resources, certainly on the contract side, to satisfy demand even with the return of many native Montrealers who had worked in the oil industry of Western Canada in recent months and years. Hot skills in Montreal continue to be mostly on the Infrastructure side with roles like Network Analysts, System Analysts, and Technical Architects, in addition to a demand for Security, SAP and Senior PMs.

Keeping it Real

Back in July 2008 I wrote a blog entry called Never Give Up ... with the idea that we all face challenges, and sometimes they feel insurmountable, but if you have hope and keep battling then you will get through it.

In that blog entry I reference a song by a reggae artist (Shaggy) and the song is called Hope.

Its funny that the same reggae artist has a song called Keeping it Real, and while its premise is around the dreams young people have of growing up with what used to be called "the American Dream", it just isn't going to be there for everyone ... so its important to temper your dreams with a touch of reality.

These two sentiments might at face value seem to be in contrast, but in fact they are both relevant.

It is dreams and hope that will give you a picture of something to strive for ... in business terms we call that the "vision". This is the company that we want to be, and for individuals it might be a "vision" of the life they would like to have. It might also be a vision of a company they would like to start.

However the vision (or dream) is just the starting point! In order to reach that dream you need a plan, and that plan needs to be "REAL" ... it needs to have actionable tasks that will get you to where you want to be.

Over the years I have met many budding entrepreneurs who have a dream and ambition, and many of them set off on that journey to reach their dream. The statistics on failed companies would support me when I say its not that easy.

Reaching any dream requires hard work, drive, enthusiasm, commitment ... AND a sense of reality.

You need to understand what the price is to reach your dream. You need to understand how you will pay that price and you have to believe that the return on that investment is worth the pain.

Many budding entrepreneurs recognise at some point in their journey that their plan was not as good as they thought, their dream was not as easily attained as they thought or they just did not want to make as many sacrifices as they needed in order to reach their dream.

Others had an attainable dream, a realistic plan and the resilience to keep going through all of the ups and owns along the way.

If you have a dream ... whether it is in business or otherwise, remember to keep it real! just like Shaggy says!!!

Book Review - The Checklist Manifesto

The Checklist Manifesto ... by Atul Gawande

I won't even pretend to have read this book, however a friends sent me a link to the review by Harvey Schater in the Globe and Mail. It was an interesting review and I may well pick up the book because I really believe in the power of LISTS, whether they are To Do Lists or CheckLists.

I have blogged many times about the use of "To Do lists" in time management, one I wrote in 2008 was called Time Management Tips. the premise of checklists is similar, in that it organises your thoughts and ensures you get stuff done ... BUT different in that it is designed more around a process, than a number of unrelated tasks.

Gawande is a doctor who gives some compelling reasons why, particularly as our world gets ever more complex, checklists are a way to ensure that things get done.

As a former aircraft mechanic we had checklists for everything, any inspection that was done involved a number of steps and the checklist ensured that those steps were taken.

Imagine if the "mental checklist" in your car mechanics head did not include tightening the wheel nuts after putting your Summer tires on! Gawande's contention is that in an ever more complex world critical things can be missed and a well conceived checklist is a great way to ensure that doesn't happen.

Checklists might ensure:

> all of the steps necessary in signing up a new client are completed correctly ... avoiding embarrassment later.
> you have all of the things you need for your wilderness camping trip ... it would be a little annoying to find you forgot a critical item when you arrive in the middle of nowhere.
> all of the correct safety checks have been made before you jump out of a plane ... hopefully WITH a parachute!
> you continue to have inventory in your store when you need it.

There are a million uses for checklist ... maybe it is a simple way to relieve stress in your world.

Sometimes Change Happens!!!!!

Every now and then I write about "change" ... its topical, its here and it affects everyone.

Last time I focused on the subject of change was October last year whan I wrote an entry called Change ... and You! In that blog I talked about how people generally react to change, and the various levels of change that can affect us form the small to the large.

Can you imagine what is going on in Poland right now?

One plane crash on the weekend killed the President of Poland and 95 other people, including many influential members of the Polish government. Now THAT is forcing change on a country.

It makes the case of "succession planning" a no brainer! Did they have a contingency plan do you think?

The story is reminscent of the Tom Clancy novel "Executive Orders" where the President of the United States and many of his cabinet are killed. Lucky for them they had Jack Ryan to lead them through chaos! Lets hope, despite the inevitable rumours, that there are no conspiracies uncovered behind this tragedy!

There are some lessons to take away from this tragedy ...

1. You can't plan for everything ... things will happen!
2. You need to have succession plans.
3. There are implications to every decision ...
> in Poland a decision was made not to upgrade the Presidential plane, was that a factor?
> the president chose to travel with his whole party in one plane ... many companies don't allow that, so should countries allow it?
> many of the people who died in that crash were at the top of their profession ... would they have had regrets about their life? I doubt it, they achieved great things in their lives. Would you have regrets about how you have lived your life if you died in a plane crash tomorrow?

How Poland reacts to this tragedy will also provide some lessons, and I expect they will draw upon their experiences to help them to cope.

A tragedy thousands of miles away sent a ripple around the world and leaders of all countries will be watching, attending the funerals and providing any help they can.

I don't know enough about the region these days to understand what good might come from this tragedy, but hopefully Poland recovers and these deaths will prove to bring some long term benefit ... even if it is only a slightly stronger relationship with countries offering support.

Sometimes you have no control over change ... she just shows up at your door!!!

Finding a Job

Unemployment in Canada is currently a little over 8% and dropping ... that is really no consolation to you if you are out of work and looking for a job. Unemployment is really about individuals, about their ability to pay bills, enjoy life and feel like they are contributing. There are not too many people that enjoy being unemployed.

Finding a job can be daunting ... its a tough process, its hard work, it requires a plan , it requires commitment and it requires stamina. If you really want to be successful then the act of finding a job needs to be a job in and of itself.

I have touched on this subject in the past ... but here are some thoughts about finding a job, today in Canada.

1. List your hard skills ... car mechanic, Java developer, telecommunications executive whatever that might be. Define those hard skills as clearly as possible.
2. List your soft skills ... communications (written/verbal/public speaking etc); interpersonal; etc.
3. List your experience ... chronologically list your jobs and accomplishments throughout your career. Include charitable involvement, include
4. Education .... list all of your education, courses as well as formal schooling.

Now you have the basis for what you are selling ... yourself. This will need to be customised depending upon where you are applying ... did I mention this is hard work?

5. Identify who you know in your network that could possibly help.
6. Identify the companies that you know might use your skills.
7. Identify employment agencies that might be able to help.

Now you have the first set of "targets".

8. Prioritise your lists ... who would you approach first.
9. Decide what messages you want to deliver to each group.
10. Customise your resume to fit the different target groups. There is no "one size fits all" resume ... you need to tweak it to highlight things that are of interest in different situations. eg. If I am a car mechanic applying to a truck company my resume might be tweaked differently than if I were a car mechanic applying to a corner garage.

Now develop your plan of attack ... hand deliver resumes; use your network to pre-sell yourself; get introductions through contacts; start at your most desirable job or start at the easiest job?

This is your project plan ... and it needs to be continually updated.

If you are in an area that has very high unemployment then you might want to look further afield ... identify other geographies that you might be willing to move to ... maybe you have friends or relatives there, maybe you could get your head around a period of time away from home.

Identify areas where there are known shortages of people ... Fort MacMurray in Alberta was a hotbed of demand a year ago, the Middle east used to be a big draw at various time sin the past. Give real consideration .. in a pinch would you move there, or work there for a period of time?

The more flexible you are in your demands the better chance you have of being successful.

Finding a job can be very tough ... if you create a plan and continually evolve the plan and add to it until you are successful then you will keep motivated, keep positive and not let yourself get "down". If you let the situation "get to you" then you won't put your best foot forward, you reduce your chances of success and you set yourself up for a downward spiral, becoming even more depressed as time goes by.

Believe in yourself, play up your strengths, use your network, treat it like a job in itself, learn from the setbacks that happen along the way and keep finding new ways to move forward with your search.

It will pay off.

The Inevitable Labor Shortages ... Coming Soon!

People are the life blood of any organisation, so when (a) you don’t have enough of them or (b) they are not the right people ... then you have a problem!

Finding the right people is only going to get tougher as the world’s economies recover, companies start to expand, projects come on stream and everyone wants to “get stuff done”. This will be compounded by the affects of demographics, the retiring baby boomers leaving the workforce and not enough “Millenials” to replace them.

Obviously we don’t live in a black and white world, but there are extremes when it comes to approaching this issue. Here are a couple of (real world) examples of ways to address the coming labour shortages.

The Strategic Recruiting Initiative.

Some companies will already have a plan that will include such components as:

- campus recruiting (for those future needs);
- internal training and promotions (that ensures retention and best use of existing staff);
- and a recruiting strategy that includes
> a branding component designed to attract top talent,
> an acquisition strategy that identifies sources and means of getting at top talent,
> a streamlined internal process that ensures that once talent is found they move very quickly through the hiring process, and
> an onboarding process that assimilates the new people into the organization quickly and efficiently.

These forward thinking companies will recognize that they may have trouble ramping up rapidly and so they will also have backup plans that will include options such as:

- Acquisition of competitors or smaller companies;
- Contract labour;
- Temporary help;
- Outsourcing;
- Offshoring; and
- Partnering.

The “Fly By The Seat of Your Pants” Recruiting Initiative

There are other companies that will not be so “forward thinking”. They will wake up one day and realize that they don’t have enough people. Most often they will adopt reactive strategies that will put band-aids on their problem or they will fail to find the people they need which will adversely affect their growth plans, projects and corporate goals.

These companies may get every employment agency they can find to work on their “urgent needs”, creating confusion in the marketplace and sending a message to the candidates that they don’t really have a handle on things. They will likely not have a streamlined process to deal with a large influx of candidates which will means they will lose a large percentage of those rare people that they have managed to find, because by the time they get through the process they have job offers in hand from elsewhere. They likely won’t have a consistent message to market (Branding) and their many agencies will all develop their own messages resulting in misinformation, a poor candidate experience and ultimately a painful process.

Other Behaviours …

Some of the other things that companies do when trying to hire new staff include:

Posting their jobs on all the job boards and expecting the great candidates to show up. Many of the best people are already employed, and if you need the best then you need a “recruiting campaign” using professionals.

Engaging agencies but negotiating such a poor deal that the agencies are not very motivated to work on their jobs. The reality is that many recruiters are paid on commission so if they can place someone with a rare skill set into a job where they get a reasonable market price, versus a job where the client has negotiated “a deal” then they will earn more. What do you think will happen?

Some companies will ramp up a large internal recruiting capability. This may work, if well managed and staffed by committed professionals … but VERY often these internal recruiters will end up using external agencies so the client pays the agency fee plus the price of their internal staff. Again… the ROI needs to be carefully managed and the productivity of the internal recruiters managed.

Some facts about the labour market in Canada …

> We have an aging workforce … there are more people leaving the workforce than entering it.
> Immigrants will be the SOLE source of net labour growth by 2011 (next year)!
> Canada will be competing for those immigrants with every other industrial nation.

This means we will have acute labour shortages VERY soon. Think about Calgary in its boom times not so long ago, with “Help Wanted” posters in every store and with some small stores having to shut down for lack of available help!

Companies NEED to develop effective, pragmatic approaches to their labour requirements into the foreseeable future. Every large company will need to consider all of the components in the Strategic Recruiting Initiative described above and even then they will be lucky to meet their needs.

What is your company doing to address the coming labour shortages?

Challenging the Norms ... School Buildings

I have written a couple of blog entries where I have tried to apply some "different thinking" to our society and the way we do things today. Back in January I questioned our Canadian belief that "Universal healthcare" is a good thing. In December I wrote a blog entry questioning (a) why our government gets to decide how big it should be (b) why older people are not recruited and sent off into war zones and (c) why we give "free" money to people through our welfare system.

Today I am again questioning "the way it is" ... this time with regard to a public asset, our school buildings.

We live in a society where certain things have value, and generally speaking we want to make the most of our resources. One of those resources is real estate … the price (value) of bricks and mortar increases constantly, so we should be finding way to maximize our use of real estate.

What about our school buildings which are typically large structures filled with resources such as desks, computers, labs, sports equipment, etc.

These buildings are fully utilized for some (very small) percentage of time. The school day is not particularly long and the school year is not particularly long … so it wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out how much time these “assets’ sit idle, burning money because they still need heat and light, perhaps security etc.

What could we do to maximize our use of these public assets? There must be creative ideas “out there” …

Set them up for “shifts” teaching school? Maybe have the school used by younger students for the first 8 hours, and then by university/college students for the next 8 hours?

Perhaps we could increase the school year and have students actually go to school 12 months a year and have 4 or 6 weeks vacation a year … like the rest of society.

Perhaps we could “school share” … reducing the need for more schools, just having school hours match up with the needs of society. There is no “law” that would suggest school has to be during the day .. that’s just the way we have evolved.

Perhaps we could find businesses that could use the school facilities during off hours? Maybe private colleges, or help desk centres or some other type of business that could utilize a school setup.

Society often operates the way it does because “that’s the way its always been done”. Well times are changing and we need to look at the world asking the question why? Change is always difficult and people will always find great reasons why NOT to change … maybe if we could find reasons TO change we could all benefit.

“When you are through changing, you are through.” … Bruce Barton

March 2010 IT Industry News

This is my 30,000 foot look at events in the ICT industry for March 2010. What you see here is a précis of the monthly report I produce, which is available in more detail at the News section of the Eagle website, where you will also find back issues.

Three years ago, in March 2007 Cisco was “on a tear” announcing 3 acquisitions, including the $3.3 Billion purchase of WebEx and Microsoft paid about $800 Million for Tellme networks. In March 2008 Microsoft announced three separate deals (one reputedly in the $100Million range); the biggest deal of the month was AOL’s $850 Million purchase of social networking company Bebo; Acer paid $290 Million for E-Ten and Synopsis paid $227 Million for another semiconductor company Synplicity. Last year in March 2009 we continued to suffer through tough economic times and record unemployment. Google was in the news for creating a $100 Million venture fund. There was not a ton of actual M&A activity in March 2009 but Bell Canada surprised, picking up “the Source” and the break-up of BearingPoint, post Chapter 11, benefited Deloitte and PwC amongst others around the world.

This year in March 2010 we are still in recovery mode … but headed in the right direction. It was a quiet month for M&A activity with CA’s pursuit of the “cloud computing” world providing some activity with its two purchases, 3Tera for reputedly about $90 million and Nimsoft for $350 million. This would make it five acquisitions in the last ten months for CA’s Cloud business unit. Chordiant software fell victim to the recession and was picked up by Pegasytems for a little over $160 million, and the other notable purchase was Avnet’s $340 million buy, Bell Microproducts. The Albany group suffered financial issues, (a thorny issue in the staffing world, when the VMS suppliers run into financial difficulty) and their managed services group was picked up by Allegis.

I included some reports out of Europe by way of comparison in this month’s industry news, and certainly there are country’s still suffering far worse than Canada. Spain for example is looking at a 20% unemployment rate, while Canada’s is about 8.2%, and Sweden (one of the best places to live in the World) is around 9.3%. The new Canadian Staffing Index highlights the long slow recovery, beginning in June 2009 with labour demand increasing slowly, but accelerating as we speak. Worldwide executive search revenue fell 32% in 2009, but that seems to be a norm in staffing however the fourth quarter numbers suggest demand is picking up.

So the mood remains optimistic, demand is picking up and the recovery seems to be gaining momentum … I will hope to be writing about HUGE increases in the positive indicators in next month’s Industry News.

That's what caught my eye over the last month, the full edition will be available soon on the Eagle website. Hope this was useful and I’ll be back with the April 2010 industry news in just about a month’s time.