| January/February
2004
How
to make your life easier
THE
HIRING BOOM IS STARTING: ARE YOU READY FOR IT?
NOVEMBER’S
ECONOMIC NEWS confirmed what many suspected – namely,
that an economic turnaround has begun in the United States
and should augur well for other economies around the world.
Among
an array of encouraging statistics:
- Third-quarter
Gross Domestic Product grew at an annualized rate of 8.2
percent, exceeding estimates.
- The
Conference Board’s consumer confidence index rose
to 91.7 percent, up a full 10 points from the previous month.
- First-time
unemployment claims were the lowest in 34 months, while
non-farm employment continued to grow. And,
- Third-quarter
productivity at U.S. companies hit a 20-year high, growing
at a seasonally adjusted rate of 9.4 percent.
The best
news is that the trends mirror previous economic recoveries
in 1983 and 1993. As pundits wryly noted when the world slipped
into recession three years ago, reports of the economic cycle’s
demise have been greatly exaggerated. The sine wave, in truth,
continues.
Sooner
or later, companies and other institutions that have cancelled
or postponed hiring will need to resume it – as an accelerating
economy fuels consumer and industrial demand.
At the
same time, hiring managers and HR professionals will find
themselves under increased pressure to retain their best and
brightest employees, who – in survey after survey –
have expressed their intention to seek new employment once
they are convinced the recovery is for real.
Further,
virtually every division, department and facility that has
operated under a hiring freeze has workers who otherwise would
have lost their jobs for poor performance. Now that the free
market is returning to employment, it may be time to do a
little house-cleaning.
So how
does one cope with the challenges of filling the pipeline
once the spigot is open, romancing the disaffected, replacing
those who nonetheless decide to leave and showing the door
to under-performers – all of which may creep onto the
“to do” list for 2004? The answer is to have an
action – not reaction – plan that keeps you in
control and out front of the competition.
Surveying
the Employment Battlefield
How would
you assess the condition of your organizational landscape
this very day? Suppose, for example, that you decide to generate
three lists to find out.
The first
list ranks the open positions in your organization by the
degree of pain, internal blockage and/or lost income that
each has caused. That list, of course, generates the sequence
in which you would like ideally to fill the openings –
recognizing, of course, that hiring is an imperfect science
(human beings being human beings). Also, the most urgent openings
may have the smallest candidate pools, so the list is more
of a guide to getting started than a guarantee of the order
of finish.
The second
list provides the name of those “keepers” in your
organization who would cause severe disruption if they left,
especially on their own timing. To the extent that any keepers
might be particularly vulnerable to outside offers (think
outside reputation and recognition, previous history of changing
jobs, recent mood changes, lunches spent at the computer,
etc.), that information is noted as well. Even though list
number two does not predict who actually will leave, since
quitting consists of many variables, it does identify those
who should become the objects of your company’s affection
and encouraged to stay. (In far too many companies, employee
retention has suffered lately from benign neglect.)
List
three is a compilation of your weakest links. They know who
they are. Their fellow employees know who they are. Both groups
have been waiting for you to take action. If a “no exceptions”
hiring freeze has encouraged you not to fire them, 2004 will
be a good year to throw that policy right out the window.
Once
the lists are compiled, the magnitude of the task ahead becomes
more evident. Not every position opening will be filled as
quickly as you hope (or approved for filling by Higher Authority,
if any). Not every key employee will leave. And a few weak
links may have ties that bind. Nonetheless, you will be giant
strides ahead of all those companies who assume the status
quo will go on forever. It won’t.
Why
Early Birds Will Get the Worms
Sanford
Rose Associates’ crystal ball remains slightly cloudy:
we cannot quite see the precise month in which the employment
marketplace will return to the frenetic pace of the mid- to
late 1990s. There is, however, no doubt that event is coming.
As a
search firm celebrating its 45th anniversary, we have staked
our reputation over the years on “finding people who
make a difference.”® Always a challenging task,
since superior people are in short supply, it becomes even
more difficult in a tight market where employers everywhere
are clamoring for top talent.
Those
organizations that are savvy enough today to begin acquiring
superstars, while protecting those already on board, have
an advantage that won’t last forever. And at the highest
organizational levels, there is an incredible opportunity
to attract the kind of leaders who can re-focus their companies
on long-term wealth creation, as opposed to the fast buck.
Using
Search Consultants Wisely
Contrary
to the impression created by so-called “vendor management”
software in use at some large companies, professional search
firms and their consultants are not purveyors of résumés
and bodies for cut-rate prices. Those who believe in that
approach receive the quality and service they deserve.
Rather,
search professionals provide much more. They are a sounding
board and confidant to hiring managers, not to mention an
extension of the HR Department’s resources. They bring
an understanding of the client company, its industry and the
employment marketplace to bear upon the successful management
of the search process and identification of the “perfect
fit.” They do what they do full time and are very good
at it. They also contribute an independent point of view.
In other words, these human-capital experts are consultants,
as opposed to order-takers.
As you
begin calculating your organization’s re-entry into
the employment marketplace, take advantage of the outside
counsel and assistance that a trusted search consultant can
provide. Demand his or her competence, communication and confidentiality.
In return, offer your candor, cooperation and commitment.
Hiring
managers and human resources professionals alike will face
a challenging year in 2004 as the economy continues to pick
up steam. Sanford Rose Associates wants to make it as easy
and productive as possible.
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