Social Media, Networking and Recruitment

Social Media is the set of tools you use in order to do Social Networking. Twitter, Linked In, Facebook, You Tube, are just some of the websites which are the new buzzword in businesses world wide. However there is a lot more to social media than these few sites. Today the world wibe web is a humongous network of blogs, tweets, audio and video sharing sites, photo sharing sites, community sites, sharing tools, micro blogging and other increasingly new and sophisticated tools.
Most of us still treat the networking sites as social meeting points. Twitter has been instrumental in saving plenty of victims in natural disasters. Blogs have brought the peoples struggles in Iran, Afghanistan and elsewhere in front of us, literally, through our computers.
"Individuals have benefited from the viral virtues of social media: Musician Dave Carroll got the attention of United Airlines when his YouTube video about how the airline broke his guitar reached millions of viewers; TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington got Comcast to respond to him in 20 minutes and resolve a connection issue he had complained about to his 12,000 Twitter followers."
http://www.forbes.com/2010/07/19/facebook-twitter-linkedin-technology-cio-network-social-media.html?partner=airlines_newsletter
But these are some of the more obvious uses of these sites. Whats coming up now in a huge wave is the use of social and business networking for business purposes. In marketing that means using social media to reach the customer, to find trends, to get feedback. All major companies now have a 'social media strategy' and social media firms in India are springing up to help Indian companies in getting their message across as well as keeping a finger on the pulse of the consumer.
How social network can affect strategy

"Bad strategy execution originates from communication and engagement failures. The worst symptoms include employees disregarding the strategy and management ignoring employees' input regarding their strategic decisions."

http://www.forbes.com/2010/07/19/facebook-twitter-linkedin-technology-cio-network-social-media.html?partner=airlines_newsletter
Therefore companies are now making social networks inhouse to monitor employee reactions and getting inputs to gauge the success of strategies.
Social Network and Recruitment
Facebook, Linked In and Twitter are the holy trinity of social networking strategies for individuals and recruiters alike.
http://blogs.forbes.com/work-in-progress/2010/06/14/social-media-twitter-facebook-linkedin/?partner=relatedstoriesbox
Jobvite, a recruiting software company, asked 825 HR and recruiting professionals about the extent to which they use social networking websites in their recruiting process to find and vet candidates for jobs. Their answers indicate that they view social networks as a viable channel for sourcing high-quality candidates and that they plan to increase their use of social networking websites in their recruiting efforts this year. (Only about 3 percent of survey respondents were Jobvite customers.)
http://www.businessweek.com/idg/2010-06-30/social-networking-ever-more-critical-to-job-search-success.html
Here are some of the reasons being touted to job searchers to get over the third party recruiter cycle and get on to the www.
1. You'll have access to job opportunities at progressive, growing companies.
Companies that are hiring the most people in the shortest periods of time "are the ones who are more aggressively pursuing social recruiting," says Dan Finnigan, Jobvite's CEO. "Companies with the most growth opportunities are trying to get better, higher-quality candidates through social recruiting."
2. You'll have access to job opportunities first.
The Jobvite survey results show that employers prefer using social networking sites for recruiting because they make advertising jobs and sourcing candidates cheap and easy.
3. Employers are increasingly using LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to find and vet prospective employees.
According to Jobvite's social recruiting survey:
. 73 percent of respondents currently use online social networks or social media sites to support their recruiting efforts.
. 92 percent of respondents hiring in 2010 currently use or plan to recruit via social networks.
. 78 percent of respondents use LinkedIn for recruiting; 55 percent use Facebook (up 15 percent since over 2009); and 45 percent use Twitter (up 32 percent over 2009).
. One-third of respondents always check out candidates' social media profiles when vetting them. . 58 percent of respondents have successfully hired candidates through social networking websites.
4. You may not find as many job ads on job boards or job opportunities through recruiters.
Jobvite found that 36 percent of survey respondents say they plan to spend less money on job boards as the economy recovers. Slightly more (38 percent) will spend less on third-party recruiters and search firms as the recovery continues.
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After polling 100 hiring managers at small, mid-sized and large companies on how social media is being used in the hiring process, Jump Start, a New Jersey search engine found that a good number of the hiring managers have started checking social media sites to research candidates before making a job offer. While LinkedIn-the only professional social networking sites to research the credentials of job candidates, is the favorite for three quarters of those polled, a good 48% turn to Facebook and 26% to Twitter.
http://www.digitalcommunitiesblogs.com/international_beat/2009/06/social-media-can-also-get-you.php
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Of course Linkedin has been favoured for years by recruiters, such as ourselves, nowadays recruiters in companies and third party firms use social network sites to get an overall view of the individual, apart from his professional resume. It helps that people are unabashedly free spoken on sites like Facebook or Twitter. Testimonials on Linkedin are also like reference checks in a way, used with caution. And for just how long have we been using google.com to search for phone numbers, profiles or even just plain information on projects or theses.

Here is a matrix which shows quite well the experience and expertise required and the method of recruitment favoured by a company.

http://www.ibscdc.org/Articles/social_networking_better_recruitment_platform.htm

How to go about it as a recruiter
The average user of social networks, mainly for job search has been found to be 37, therefore the GEN X-ers !1964-'80). Thats not to say Gen Y ('80-'95) does not use networking as a tool. However the message has to be put in a different way.
Gen X need interactive media such as Internet banner advertising, job boards, e-cards, text messaging, mobile media.
For Generation Y/Millennial mostly interactive and alternative media work: job boards, Internet banner ads, networking sites, RSS feeds, blogging, text messaging, streaming video, flash e-cards, e-mail marketing, splash pages, mobile media.
However there are downsides to this as well. Discrimination might be a huge charge which might bring the lawyers to the doorstep if you reject a candidate for his Facebook profile. Or Social Network sites not meant for professional networking might be actually too personal. Or even the chance of mistaken identity always remains.
Therefore there may be some precautions you have to take as suggested by http://www.ceridian.co.uk/hr/newsletter/nav/1,4813,593,00.html.

• Be aware of rules of equal opportunities.
• Keep a paper trail and archive print-outs that you have used when assessing a candidate.
• Ernst & Young set up the company’s own profile and network, then makes sure that the organisation’s reputation is not being damaged.
• Company information must be used responsibly.
• Constantly monitor your organisation’s profile on the various sites.

Happy searching.

Audi's Sound Concept cabin defines auditory excess: 62 speaker surround-sound

Audi's 7.2 Surround Sound

If you've been bragging about your all-encompassing 7.2 surround-sound system to of your friends, prepare for a mighty dose of humble pie. Audi has hand-crafted what it calls the Sound Concept, an in-car sound system so excessive it should be able to cause your soft, fleshy bits to pulsate in new and exciting ways. There are five tweeters scattered across the dash and the doors, five woofers (four in the doors and a monster in the back), and then a whopping 52 mid-range speakers encircling the entire enclosure, creating a package that's not likely to show up in the options catalog anytime soon. All these have been wedged into the interior of a Q7 SUV in the interests of Wave Field Synthesis, minimizing a user's ability to hear specific speakers -- and blowing Audyssey's paltry 11-speaker DSX system right out of the water

When is a good time to change your job

Leave recession aside for once. For every unlucky soul who lost her/his job there were some who still had the luxury of choosing to continue in their present job or to jump ship. We saw quite a few candidates change jobs through the last couple of tough years itself. And though the media is hyping, the job market is picking up a wee bit.

I often get this question from candidates as well as friends- real or virtual: Is it the right time for me to change? There has not been even one among us who have not been plagued by this question some time or another, even people who have been very happy in their jobs and been in a company for donkeys years. Yes, some candidates, perfectly good apples, I should say, have been in one company for 15 or 20 years before finally being head hunted and taking the leap. They never thought of looking out for a job on their own. Their profiles have never been on a job site, some, believe me, do not even have a CV. I should know, I dont have one myself.

Therefore, how do we know that it is the right time to change.

Some reasons are pretty straight forward and obvious- when the company is going down

Rats will always leave a sinking ship. And the writing is pretty much there on the wall for years before a company starts downsizing or closing shop altogether. When the Citi fiasco happened, there was an exodus from group companies like Citi Financial. An acquisition is another reason employees may want to leave a company desperately, especially if job security is not guaranteed by the acquiring company.
Often, and this has been proven, a bad boss is enough to push you out of the workplace. Sexual (or other) harassment- of course.

The above fall into what is called the HYGIENE factors of Maslows Theory of Motivation.



The bottom two are the hygiene factors. Assuming that your office has bathrooms and your desk is dusted every morning, and you have your necessary stationery, and also that your job is more or less secure, then the motivation factors come in.

BELONGING, the third factor from bottom in the pyramid, stands for relationships and friendships in the company. How do you fare with your boss. How are your colleagues. The next is the ESTEEM. Is your work recognised? Is it rewarded as it should? Are your achievements recognised? The last is SELF ACTUALISATION- which stands for how creative your job is. Does your company allow for out of the box thinking. Are you allowed freedom in your work. Are you allowed to innovate.

Recently I came across an article from the India Career Journal which lists 10 pointers about when to leave your job. Here they are
Here are 10 signs that could indicate that it’s time for you to move on – either from your current job function or from your organization – to other adventures.

1. Social networking but not working: Spending too much time on the internet on sites or proxy sites for prolonged period of time.
2. Been there, done that: You are not learning much any more.
3. Not challenged enough: Responsibilities are not making you grow.
4. Unmet goals: Your career not moving where you want it to move. IN short, no promotion.
5. Too big for your shoes: You have reached your level of incompetence in the company. Time to reskill or move to a better fit.
6. Closed to change : You dont agree to company change, or you cant handle change. A cutltural misfit.
7. Politics over mechanics: Office politics too much for you.
8. You’ve been overlooked — again: self explanatory.
9. Don’t want your boss’s job?: Cause thats where you are headed in your company.
10. Evil thoughts about your boss?: If your boss is forever pulling you down you should think of moving.

Negotiating Benefits when Compensation is not much to write home about

Of all ideas on Compensation and Benefits, here is one which is a win win situation for both the employee and employer. Excerpts below. Find the original article here.


Can't Get A Raise? Negotiate Your Benefits
Bobbi Dempsey, 06.30.10, 10:48 AM EDT
There are many ways your employer can make your job more pleasant, even when money is tight.

For employees who can't get a raise in salary, a "benefits raise"--getting the employer to increase or enhance current benefits or add new ones--may be the next best thing. Here are a few tips on persuading your employer to consider a benefits raise.

Come Up with a Win-Win Scenario
"The best approach would be a benefit/incentive program that is going to produce more benefits for the employer than it costs," says Robert F. Fallis of Fallis & Associates, an organizational psychological consulting firm in Seattle.
Fallis suggests something along the lines of the Scanlon plan, in which employees come up with creative solutions to improve the ratio of sales vs. labor costs. Employees then get a pre-negotiated percentage of the resulting savings, unlike a standard profit-sharing arrangement where much of the profits are often diverted to other things before employees get their share.
Look for Any Upside
An example could include any potential tax savings for your company resulting from an increase in your benefits.
"If you are requesting additional funds contributed by your employer into your Health Savings Account, that contribution is deductible in Tampa, Fla. "Talking up potential tax savings is a great selling point for many increased employee benefits."

Realize Some Things are Off-Limits
To a certain extent, your employer's hands may be tied when it comes to some benefits.
"Companies with fully insured benefits plans don't have the luxury to offer you a 'better' health/dental/vision plan than what they offer everyone else, and employers must be careful about what 'extras' they offer so as not to be discriminatory in their benefits offerings," says Roxann Kerr Lindsey, vice president of CBIZ Benefits & Insurance Services of Kansas City, Kan.

Be Creative
If you do run into a dead end with the obvious benefits, think of other strategies.

Focus on Work/Life Benefits
This is an area where employers are often willing to consider giving some extras. Flex time, for example, may be an option.

Think Small
If your employer resists any increase in major benefits, think of small things that could still make your life better. Some of Lindsey's suggestions: reimbursement for parking fees, ability to retain the frequent flier miles earned for company travel or a health club membership. Another idea: See if your employer will cover the cost of an out-of-town seminar or continuing education program. Not only do you get a little getaway, but "this is deductible for the employer, plus they benefit from your increased knowledge."
The Bottom Line
Your salary may be in a holding pattern, but by using your imagination and your best negotiation skills, you may still be able to get a few extra perks that will help make your life a little easier.

Domain Knowledge is very important

A joke forward that came in:

There was this family with one kid. One day the mother was out and dad
was in charge of the kid, who just turned three.


Someone had given the kid a little 'tea set' as a birthday gift and it
was one of his favorite toys. Daddy was in the living room engrossed in
the evening news when kid brought Daddy a little cup of 'tea', which was
just water. After several cups of tea and lots of praise for such yummy
tea from father, kid's Mom came home.


Dad made her wait in the living room to watch the kid bring him a cup of
tea, because it was 'just the cutest thing!!'


Mom waited, and sure enough, the kid comes down the hall with a cup of
tea for Daddy and she watches him drink it up, then she says to him,
'Did it ever occur to you that the only place that baby can reach to get
water is the toilet??'

....Mothers know!!


MORAL OF THE STORY:

Domain knowledge is very important!!! Else your supplier will trick
you......

Google Project

How would you go about attracting a potential employer for the dream job that you want?

You might head start with uploading your resume over numerous job portals; you might be referencing and networking. If you are lucky a headhunter might spot you and do half the work on your behalf (they actually do). You would even try every trick in your book and leave no stone unturned.

How about innovating?

Well if you are Alec Brownstein, you would just draw a focused plan with a precise marketing strategy. Few clicks over the internet and you are hired.

Google has been a way of life for many. Across the planet, millions of people have benefitted from Google’s services. What many may or may not know is that the main source of income for Google is Adwords, the flagship advertising product.

Why advertise with Google? Because Google gets you almost all the information that one needs on a subject available over the internet. Google knows what a particular user searches the most over the internet, trends and analysis. So next time you search for something Google shows you the advertisement targeted to you according to your search behavior.

So how would you leverage the power of a giant search engine and use your information to achieve the best results.

Here is what Alec Brownstein did. He wanted to get hired as a top creative director in New York. He bought Google Adword services and created his ad campaign for Scott Vitrone, Ian Reichenthal, Gerry Graf, Tony Granger and David Droga.

http://www.alecbrownstein.com/project.php?cat=3

Now every time these gentleman Googled themselves Google Adwords showed a personalized message from Alec Brownstein asking for a job and the message linked to his online portfolio. He was called for an interview from David Droga, Gerry Graf, Ian Reichenthal and Scott Vitrone. Scott Vitrone and Ian Reichenthal offered him a job. He is now working with Y&R; Tony Granger is the Global Chief Creative Officer of the company.

Ingenious? Well, I’d say! Few hours and $ 6 approximately was all he invested. How did he score the opportunity? Doing what he is best at- “Creativity”.

Alec Brownstein (is an advertising copywriter, the co-author of several humor books, and a film director. He attended The Haverford School in Haverford, Pennsylvania, and Tufts University.

References :

http://www.alecbrownstein.com/project.php?cat=3

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alec_Brownstein

HR lessons from Up In The Air?

What is the best way to fire an employee?

We are in the business of hiring people, not firing. It falls on the lot of evil HR people on the company rolls to do the dirty job. And a dirty job it is. I have heard of people getting nightmares after having to let people go, during the slump time, in groups at a time. I have heard of HR people going into depression after having to deal with downsizing of colleagues, close friends included. A person, who has not dealt with recruitment, would not know the amount of counseling, hand holding and advising that can go into this process. Then just imagine how devastating firing can be for both parties.

In Up In The Air, George Clooney is Ryan Bingham, the “corporate downsizer”, a terminator with, of all things, a heart. He never says “You’re fired”. Redundancy can be made to sound so motivating when it is Bingham doing the talking. The loss is actually an opportunity toward a brighter future, for time with the kids which dad never had, time to follow ones dreams, time to finally take a break and change ones life as one knows it. If I were fired, I would be happy to be fired by him. He is much in demand, always flying from one site to another, always up in the air, like all the other downsizers in his company.

Enter Anna Kendrik as Natalie Keener, the new trail blazer, new blood, just cant wait to change the world. Firing is not an emotional procedure in her book. She has a new plan to reduce turnover time, increase employee productivity, and drastically reduce costs. No flying around to client sites to fire employees. She introduces video conferencing and proves that it saves time and money for her company. Bingham keeps warning of the terrible consequences but she wins first round.
And then a woman she fires over video conferencing jumps from the bridge and kills herself.

Watch the official trailer of the movie here.

Lets face it, people are being fired left right and center even today, with all the talk of economy returning to normal. While a company might handle some of the financial issues relating to the loss of job the employee has to face, what about the emotional repercussions.

This movie had created ripples in HR circles worldwide, HR blogs all featuring a review/lesson gleaned from it. However the CEO of RiseSmart, a consulting firm in Silicon Valley has this to say about the movie:
“The movie attempts to ground itself in reality by featuring interviews with real people who’ve lost their jobs,” Sathe says. “But that’s about the only thing the movie gets right in its portrayal of corporate layoffs and the human resources function.”

His interview about the 5 myths and misconceptions about HR in the movie can be found here.

All in all, it is a very trying process to fire people, a task HR people need to undertake often enough. It would be good to remember that technology is an enabler, a means to an end, and the end needs to be human. Just like one needs hand holding to get into an organization, much more help is required when one has to leave. And HR has to keep that in mind.

Reboot to Reinvent a Start-up

Three years ago, Odeo was a struggling startup on a path to nowhere. Odeo's core offering--a set of tools for users to create, record and share podcasts--was facing serious competition from Apple and other heavyweights. The management team made a radical decision to "reboot" the company, and Twitter was born.

As I read the Twitter story, narrated eloquently by Dom Sagolla, I can't help but look back over the many startups that I've been associated with over the past twelve years. In my various roles as a founder, an investor, a board member, and an advisor to startups in Silicon Valley, I'm constantly fascinated by the mechanics of reinvention. Which approaches to reinvention succeed and which ones fail?

Startups flounder for countless reasons. Perhaps the market opportunity is not as big as imagined, or perhaps there is a mismatch between the technology and the market. Maybe the world changed in some significant way, invalidating the key assumptions on which the startup was based. For example, an established company such as Google or Microsoft might enter the market. Or perhaps the deepest recession in recent history dried up demand for the original product or service. In these cases, the founders and management team have to ask themselves the question: should we push ahead, assuming superior execution will win the day against long odds? Or should we change what we're doing?

Companies that decide to reinvent need to acknowledge the bad news first: most startups fail, even the reincarated ones. Those are just the odds. The good news is that certain approaches to reinvention work better than others, and companies can increase their chance of success by carefully calculating their reboot strategy.

Every technology startup has four core components: team, technology/product, market, and business model. Rebooting involves changing at least one of these components, while leaving the other factors unchanged. Let us look at each component in turn:

1. Team. Reinvention usually leads to changes in the team. To qualify as a reboot rather than an entirely new company, however, there must be at least part of the team -- and usually at least one of the founding members -- who continues to remain with the company through the transition. In my experience, one model that usually does not work is when VC investors replace the entire founding team with new management. I've never seen a startup with none of its founders remaining succeed.

2. Market. Many startups try the most tempting option: to keep the same technology/product and look for a new market. After all, the investment in product development has already been made. Unfortunately, while this approach seems the most logical, it is also the least likely to succeed. Why? The hardest part of a startup is understanding the requirements of the market, not building the product. After the dot-com bust in 2000, many consumer internet startups tried to reinvent themselves as enterprise technology providers (remember Chemdex?). The startup junkyard is littered with the carcasses of dot-coms that took this route and failed.

3. Business Model. A very attractive strategy is to keep the same product and market, but change the business model. In my experience, this is the most likely option to succeed. For example, enterprise software companies can reinvent themselves by open-sourcing their software and providing consulting services, or a premium version. A software vendor can reboot as a software as a service (SaaS) provider on the Web. Consumer websites can move to a subscription model from an advertising model, or vice versa.

4. Product. Another smart reinvention approach is to addressing the same market (or a closely related one), but change the product or the business model. This option works best when the market need is real, but the product does not adequately address the opportunity. I've found that the key to success is to throw away the old product completely and start from scratch, using the hard-won learnings about the market acquired from the first iteration. In some cases, it makes sense to move the old product to "maintenance mode" and reassign the bulk of the team to developing the new product.

I've applied this particular model of reinvention to both companies where I have been a founder -- Junglee in 1997 and Kosmix ten years later, in 2007.

We started Junglee in 1996 to create virtual databases that integrated data from multiple websites. Although we had some initial success, we quickly realized that the architecture of our first product limited our ability to deal with rapidly-changing information, a key success factor in certain markets. We completely rebuilt the product from scratch in 1997, and created the world's first comparison shopping service. This service was enormously popular and led to Junglee's acquisition by Amazon.com in 1998.

We introduced Kosmix as a vertical search engine, initially in the health sector. Our idea was to find a better way to help users understand open-ended queries such as "diabetes", which have no single right answer; that is, explore topics rather than find the needle in the haystack. We'd planned to take a vertical-by-vertical strategy, launching sites named RightHealth, RightAutos and RightTrips. Very soon, however, we realized that the vertical approach carries severe limitations, because it's hard for consumers to remember to go to different sites for different topics of interest. We decided to rewrite the product from scratch, and we relaunched Kosmix.com as a horizontal site. Kosmix lets you explore any topic and gives you a 360 degree view of anything than interests you -- including information from the Deep Web that is inaccessible to the usual search engines. This transition from vertical to horizontal was much harder than it sounds; it required us to rewrite our technology from scratch. But we did it because of our passionate belief that the problem is real and the market opportunity is vast.

While most startup reboots involve rethinking only one or two of the four core components, in some rare cases it makes sense to go the whole hog. Sometimes it pays to be bold: go after an entirely new market opportunity, create a new product, find a new business model, and make large-scale team changes. This approach is fraught with risk; but there have been a couple of spectacular successes. One clear example is Twitter. Another is Twitter's cousin SMS GupShup, a similar service in India. SMS GupShup was born as Webaroo, a company that wanted to create offline copies of large parts of the web so you could browse while offline. A couple of engineers there launched the SMS GupShup service as a lark and it took off; once the management team saw the traction of GupShup, they re-oriented the company around the new idea.

Some startups are born great: the right team starts with the right idea at the right time, and the rest is history. Some have greatness thrust upon them: the right conjunction of market forces propels an unlikely startup to dizzying heights. Other startups, not so lucky as those in the first two categories, need to earn their greatness. And sometimes that requires a reboot.

Notes on The Author :
Anand Rajaraman is a co-founder of Kosmix, an internet startup focused on organizing the wisdom of the web. He also teaches a class on web-scale data mining at the Computer Science Department at Stanford University.
In his VC avatar, Anand is a Founding Partner of Cambrian Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm. Anand's investments include Kaltix (acquired by Google); Transformic (acquired by Google); Neoteris (acquired by Juniper); India Infoline (IPO 2005; INDIAINFO); Facebook; Efficient Frontier; Aster Data; Mobissimo; The Find; and Chaupaati.
Prior to founding Cambrian in 2000, Anand was Director of Technology at Amazon.com, where he was responsible for technology strategy. Anand helped launch the transformation of Amazon.com from a retailer into a retail platform, enabling third-party retailers to sell on Amazon.com's website. Third-party transactions now account for over 25% of all US transactions, and represent Amazon's fastest-growing and most profitable business segment.
Anand came to Amazon.com in 1998 through the $250 Million acquisition of Junglee, an Internet pioneer that he co-founded in 1996. As Chief Technology Officer, Anand played a key role in developing Junglee's award-winning Virtual Database technology.
He obtained his Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, where he won the President of India Gold Medal for graduating at the top of his class, and his MS and PhD in Computer Science from Stanford University. Anand has been featured in articles in Business Week, the San Francisco Chronicle, and other leading national publications.
Anand can be contacted at: datawocky@gmail.com

Paternity Leave Around the World

New York Times screams "In Sweden, Men can have it all". Well, actually they can. I quote: Birgitta Ohlsson, European affairs minister, put it this way: “Machos with dinosaur values don’t make the top-10 lists of attractive men in women’s magazines anymore.” Ms. Ohlsson, who has lobbied European Union governments to pay more attention to fathers, is eight months pregnant, and her husband, a law professor, will take the leave when their child is born.
“Now men can have it all — a successful career and being a responsible daddy,” she added. “It’s a new kind of manly. It’s more wholesome.”
Sweden is the front runner when it comes to relieving harassed mommies and giving daddies a chance to actually play dad. Pre school from 12 months is highly subsidised, grandparents get state sponsored care, leave-taking parent can take one year off at full salary. And both parents can work 6 hour days till the child starts school.
Which other countries have gone the "daddy months" way.
US does not have any rules regarding mandated paid leave, though their rules mandates unpaid leave to most US fathers. Portugal has mandatory leave for dads, but for one week only. Iceland has 3 months leave for fathers, 3 months formothers and 3 months shared. Germany provides 14 months total leave for parents, 2 of which are reserved for fathers. In Denmark, 2 weeks of 52 weeks leave is reserved for dads. Bulgaria has one year maternity leave, but the father can swap this with the mother. Most of Europe has about 5 days to one week leave.
The Americas however is far behind. Only Brazil has 5 days leave. Canada has unpaid or semi-paid leave which can be shared with the mother. Some countries like Uruguay, Guatemala and Chile have one day to 3 days leave.
Kenya leads the African countries with 2 weeks paternity leave while some countries like Tanzania and Seychelles have 5 to 10 days. In Asia only Philippines currently has 7 days fully paid paternal leave, Israel dads can take leave in place of mothers, Indonesia, Myanmar and Saudia has 1-6 days leave.
(Stats from Wikipedia)
The blogger 'An American Dad in a Swedish Fatherhood' has taken all the data available on wikipedia and have made a world map of Maternity and Paternity leaves. Its available here.

India has 12 weeks paid maternity leave but no provision for paternity leave. Even Bangladesh is planning 15 days leave for new fathers. Both India and Bangladesh have 6 months maternal leave. (B'desh law pending from 4 months presently).

Let us take this a step further. Does paternity leave spell greater gender equality? Lets take Sweden again. In this land of Viking lore, men are at the heart of the gender-equality debate. The ponytailed center-right finance minister calls himself a feminist, ads for cleaning products rarely feature women as homemakers, and preschools vet books for gender stereotypes in animal characters. For nearly four decades, governments of all political hues have legislated to give women equal rights at work — and men equal rights at home. (NYTimes)

Men are expected to take leave and are not penalised. Womens paychecks benefit, and socially too, divorce rates have gone down. Most important, the socially accepted norms of masculinity is changing in the country.
It has been seen that women take more leave for their children not because they are socially driven to it, but because they are paid lower. This is a vicious cycle of course, the more leave women take the lesser they will be paid. A study published by the Swedish Institute of Labor Market Policy Evaluation in March showed, for instance, that a mother’s future earnings increase on average 7 percent for every month the father takes leave. (NYTimes)

Is it time to rethink child related leaves through out the world?

What you should know before the headhunter calls ?

It’s tough to play well without knowing the rules. The employment game is no different: jobs may not always go to the best, but rather the best who know how to play the game. For those people who are in roles where positions are usually filled by companies using search firms, knowing how "executive search" works, particularly knowing what to do and what to avoid, can propel you throughout your career.

Why is this important to you?

In the world of employment search there are rules and common practices as well: knowing what they are, how things usually get done, and the pitfalls to avoid can assist you in being the best candidate you can be - and avoiding being the proverbial candidate from hell. Knowing how search firms work can also tip you off to how enthusiastic and serious, or how ho-hum, to opportunities that come your way.

In an earlier piece Ten Secrets Headhunters (Usually) Don’t Tell You many of the hidden or unsaid parts of the search firm - candidate world were outlined. This piece, and a following post, cover information that’s known if you’re in the business, not generally known if you are not.

Following that post, here are the key things you should know BEFORE a headhunter calls. As always, take these observations with an 80 / 20 grain of salt and note that these practices apply to the United States. Employment firm practices vary around the world, and the local practice may be different. In the UK, for example, historically all candidate referrals came through some sort of personnel / search firm agency. While that practice is changing, it’s still a different legacy than the direct hire AND search firm model used in the USA.

Two types of search firms

There are two basic flavors of search firms that get paid to find people to fill positions (and repeat from that earlier post: search firms do not get paid to help people like you find jobs, they get paid to find people like you who can fill the jobs the search firms are working) and they are not “good” and “bad.”

Those two types of search firms are retained firms, and contingent firms. The differences between the two can be great or minor depending on the search firm, the search executive(s), how the employers uses search firms, and the nature of the role. [Note: there are hybrids as well, such as “container” firms.]

Retained firms (hence the name) are paid a fee by employers to fill a position regardless of whether the search firm actually places a candidate for the role. Standard fees - sort of like hotel room "rack" rates - are typically 33.3% of first year’s total compensation (base and any bonus, and sometimes base and no bonus) of the candidate they place. Fees are sometimes discounted to anywhere from 30% to 25% depending on things like the volume of work done with a client, how well the employer negotiates, or how "eager" the search firm is to get someone’s business. At the higher compensation levels fees may be capped to search firms: a $2M candidate placement generates the same fee as a $3M placement.

Retained fees today are typically paid at 1/3rd of estimated total fee at commission of a search, 1/3rd around 30 days later, and 1/3rd around 60 days after commission of the search engagement. Administrative and office fees, frequently as a small percent of the engagement fee, may be added into the mix as well.

The larger national / international retained firms such as Heidrick & Struggles and Korn & Ferry are “leveraged ”: senior staff have junior and/or less experienced staff working for them to help on searches. These junior staffers typically handle initial sourcing working (talking with people who might be or might be a source to surface candidates) and talking to and qualifying potential candidates for referral to their senior associates for further screening.

At a senior level the sourcing (initial identification of possible candidates) tends to be more refined, and may be done mostly by the senior associates frequently with titles like "partner", "managing director", etc. Junior staff tends to be titled “associates”, and intermediate staff something like “senior associate” or “principals.”

A couple of the other international blue chips like Russell Reynolds and Spencer Stuart are a little less leveraged and senior staff may do more of the initial sourcing and screening. For senior searches (CEOs, EVPs, Presidents, etc.), even in more leveraged firms, senior staff tend to handle most of the heavy lifting and candidate screening.

Small boutiques have far fewer staff and the legwork of sourcing and screening typically falls upon the principal(s) rather than junior staff since any junior staff may be far and few between.

Retained search firms, after some preliminary screening, typically work with employers to sort through, based on their initial screening, who should be further vetted by in person interviews by the search firm. These vetting / biography recap summaries typically provide employers academic and work background information, and a high level sense of a potential candidates work history. Contingent search firms rarely take this step: the nature of the fee arrangement incents contingent firms to put as little up front time and money as possible since there is no known pay-off.

After the vetting conversation(s) with the client employer, search (again: almost always retained) firms interviews those candidate(s) identify as worth speaking to in person. Those interviews typically involve the search person traveling to visit the candidate, though I’ve had first hand experience where I’ve been flown in as a candidate to see the search firm exec.

A second vetting review between the employer and search firm, usually complete with a more detailed and personalized candidate work-up including salary history, job background with accomplishments and challenges, and a read on candidate personality, occurs and decisions are made as to which candidates appear to merit interviewing with the employer, and potentially in which order candidates should be seen.

A common experience at a firms like Barclays Global Investors, in part based on travel schedule and availability, was for the hiring manager and someone like a senior recruiter managing the search to interview candidates - usually in person but sometimes over the phone - as a first employer screen following search firm vetting. If candidates merited further interviews, they get scheduled to be interviewed at a later date by more company managers, and seen again by the hiring manager and perhaps someone like that same senior staffing person. (The most times I knew of someone be interviewed at BGI was 28 interviews over multiple visits, and the candidate - who was from Tacoma - ended up declining an offer, claiming their spouse was not ready to move to the San Francisco Bay area.)

Retained and contingent firms will frequently have "no touch " provisions with prior clients: these "I won’t solicit, recruit, or interview anyone from your firm" agreements can be as broad as an entire company or limited to specific divisions or even functions within divisions. These no touch arrangements can also be based on the quantity of search work done for a firm. If you’re a great candidate, but you’re in a company covered by a no touch, you are unlikely to ever be brought up for consideration unless the employer engages with the client employer directly.

One reason why some firms choose multiple search firms is so they can work around restrictions their preferred firm might have with targeted companies. Another reason why some firms, such as when I was with McKesson in the 1990’s, use more than one search firm is to try to build up "no touch" positions with multiple search firms, in essence "moating " their employees from being contacted for searches. In general it would be considered unprofessional and unethical for retained search firms to recruit from current clients.

Contingent firms may have fewer constraints on their sourcing. Retained firms usually work on an exclusive basis (e.g. no other firm has been engaged on the search). From rare time to rare time you may see firms partnering with other search firms on a search, usually at a senior level, and usually as a way to work around no touch provisions.

Contingent search firms have some similarities and some key differences from retained firms. The most significant is that contingent firms get paid when and if they place a candidate (hence the name contingent). While there is no hard and fast rules, contingent firms tend to be involved with positions ranging from $50,000 to somewhere in the neighborhood of $150,000-$200,000. Retained firms generally are working in the space of approximately $150,000 and north to millions of dollars.

Contingent fees tend to be structured differently than retained search firms: more fees in the range of 20-25% rather than the higher ranges generally of retained firms. A search for a roles where contingent firms are involved is frequently commissioned to multiple search firms, and it’s not unusual (note I didn’t say effective) to direct two or three firms to handle get commissioned for a search and add others if there is not movement on the search. While many employers discourage the practice, some contingent recruiters will send in uninvited resumes for positions – open or not. Should a candidate interview and be placed there can be a scramble for who actually brought the candidate forward. Not your (the candidate’s) problem but a pain in the bottom for employers.

It’s also not unheard of for a contingent recruiters to “resume trolling ” – collecting resumes to stockpile from candidates when no search is actually involved.

As noted earlier in this post, way fees are structured generally incent contingent firms to spend less time on a search than retained firms since time spent on searches – which may go nowhere – because it means greater cost with no return. While contingent firms have a bad rap as “paper mills”, sending candidates resumes in for any job for which they might be qualified, there is a bias in the way most employers work with contingent firms (engaging multiple search firms at the same time) to encourage that sort of resume mill behavior.

While it would be rare (I can’t think of a single incident in 30 years in the people business) of a retained firm not interviewing a candidate before sending over their paperwork to an employer, many contingent firms engage in that practice.

Cut to the chase

Retained firms generally move slower, are more thorough in candidate interviewing and sourcing, and command greater fees than contingent firms. Staff tends to be longer tenured, and on average more professional.

Contingent firms tend to be more nimble, will generally have a less depthful sense of the candidates they’re submitting, and will perform far less handholding service (bios, candidates summaries) for the employer. They can also frequently be more nimble, turning around searches quickly but not having the longer endurance (one the candidate pool is gone, it’s gone) of a retained firm.

This article was written by J.Mike Smith which can be viewed on

http://backwest.com/wordpress.backwest.com/?p=1344&goback=.mml_sent_none_DATE_1.mid_183760467

How To be Remarkable

How To be Remarkable. Be Extreme

Remarkable means doing more than anyone else.
Extremism is necessary. Half-measures won't do.

Being remarkable means impressing an audience. Not yourself.

Of course, most people won't appreciate your efforts to be remarkable. But, so what? Most people can't do squat for you. They just try to keep you down.

A few people insanely focused on what you do is better than thousands who are mildly interested.

Average is for losers; Get appreciated or not, whether You Win or Lose. You have to be different.

There are very few people like this, in any area of life. Most people freak out when their plan goes awry. They panic. They feel lost.

You might think you are like this in your area, but you don't know until you get nearly to the very top and you see the difference between the people two steps from the top and the top.

Abandon yesterday. What's fashionable is commonplace, not remarkable. There are no problems, only solutions. Find a way. Make it Work!!!

Intersearch Ranked 11th Globally

InterSearch Worldwide was ranked 11th in Kennedy Information's Executive Recruiter News (ERN) exclusive global rankings of retained search firms for 2008, rising three places from the No. 14 position the organization held in 2007's rankings.
The 97 offices of InterSearch's global network reported revenue of U.S. $119.3 million in 2008, up +12% from last year. Only 9 of the top-20 global executive search firms reported growth in 2008, the others reporting loss of revenue of up to -13% due to market conditions during the year's last two quarters. InterSearch Wordwide's revenue per consultant was $486,900, up from $421,100 in 2007.
"This is a confirmation of our organization's strengths and InterSearch's capability to create business opportunities, especially in emerging markets where the effects of the global economic crisis have been felt less. We will continue to focus on providing top-quality services by combining in-depth local market knowledge with an international mindframe" commented Patricia Epperlein, Chairwoman of InterSearch Worldwide.
ERN's 2008 ranking includes the 20 largest global retained executive search practices with specific data on revenue, growth, revenue-per-search consultant as well as the number of offices, partners/consultants, and associates/researchers.
InterSearch Worldwide is a global network of search firms consistently ranked amongst the largest retained executive search practices in the world by Executive Recruiter News and search-consult magazines. InterSearch is currently represented in more than 40 countries, staffed by local professionals selected for their experience and reputation in their own markets and their ability to operate internationally.

InterSearch Worldwide's 90 offices across the globe were retained to execute more than 3,100 executive search assignments during 2008.

Approximately 150 of these searches were cross-border assignments, in which InterSearch consultants from more than one country cooperated in order to deliver the best possible results to the search firm's international clients. Consultants from all regions participated in these projects, including consultants from InterSearch offices in developing markets.

Major sectors with high demand for cross-border executive search business in 2008 included Automotive, IT/Electronics, FMCG, Capital Equipment and Machinery, Life Sciences, and Manufacturing.

This is beautiful - and it is surely worth making the 5 finger prayer a part of our lives.

1.Your thumb is nearest you. So begin your prayers by praying for those closest to you. They are the easiest to remember. To pray for our loved ones is, as C. S. Lewis once said, a 'sweet duty.'

2. The next finger is the pointing finger. Pray for those who teach, instruct and heal. This includes teachers, doctors, and ministers. They need support and wisdom in pointing others in the right direction. Keep them in your prayers.

3. The next finger is the tallest finger. It reminds us of our leaders. Pray for the president, leaders in business and industry, and administrators. These people shape our nation and guide public opinion. They need God's guidance.

4. The fourth finger is our ring finger. Surprising to many is the fact that this is our weakest finger, as any piano teacher will testify. It should remind us to pray for those who are weak, in trouble or in pain. They need your prayers day and night. You cannot pray too much for them.

5. And lastly comes our little fingers- the smallest finger of all which is where we should place ourselves in relation to God and others. As the Bible says, 'The least shall be the greatest among you.' Your pinkie should remind you to pray for yourself. By the time you have prayed for the other four groups, your own needs will be put into proper perspective and you will be able to pray for yourself more effectively.

lets all join our hands and pray for a beautiful, loving and a peaceful world :) : )

Company Policy, No Bananas

I would acknowledge the author of this tale I am about to tell about company policies. The story begins-

"Start with a cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it.

Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the monkeys with cold water. After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result; all the monkeys are sprayed with cold water.

Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it. Now, turn off the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him.

After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted. Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm.

Again, replace a third original monkey with a new one. The new one makes it to the stairs and is attacked as well. Two of the four monkeys that beat him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs, or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey. After replacing the fourth and fifth original monkeys, all the monkeys that have been sprayed with cold water have been replaced. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs.

Why not?

Because as far as they know that's the way it's always been around here. And that's how company policy begins ..."

It is a good tale. It is funny and it brings out the point but is too ludicrous to be true in business circles?

All organisations have a tranche of policies which may be out of date or do not fit the environment in which the organisation now finds itself and cause significant levels of ineffectiveness. The solution to this often unseen problem is to review all policies and processes which are three or more years older for their purpose. As businesses evolve the parameters that impact performance and efficiency too evolve.

The earlier we observe the merrier, Otherwise we all risk making monkeys of ourselves!!!

Sign of the times

On efficient use of resources

Here is a good forward from a friend on mine.

Buddha, one day, was in deep thought about the worldly activities and the ways of instilling goodness in human beings. One of his disciples approached him and said humbly " Oh my teacher ! While you are so much concerned about the world and others, why don't you look in to the welfare and needs of your own disciples also."
Buddha : "OK.. Tell me how I can help you"
Disciple : "Master! My attire is worn out and is beyond the decency to wear the same. Can I get a new one, please?"
Buddha found the robe indeed was in a bad condition and needed replacement. He asked the store keeper to give the disciple a new robe to wear on. The disciple thanked Buddha and retired to his room. A while later, he went to his disciple's place and asked him "Is your new attire comfortable? Do you need anything more?"
Disciple : "Thank you my Master. The attire is indeed very comfortable. I need nothing more"
Buddha : "Having got the new one, what did you do with your old attire?"
Disciple : "I am using it as my bed spread"
Buddha : "Then.. hope you have disposed off your old bed spread"
Disciple : " No.. no.. master. I am using my old bedspread as my window curtain"
Buddha : " What about your old Curtain?"
Disciple : "Being used to handle hot utensils in the kitchen"
Buddha : "Oh.. I see.. Can you tell me what did they do with the old cloth they used in Kitchen"
Disciple : "They are being used to wash the floor."
Buddha : " Then, the old rug being used to wash the floor...?"
Disciple: " Master, since they were torn off so much, we could not find any better use, but to use as a twig in the oil lamp, which is right now lit in your study room..."
Buddha smiled in contentment and left for his room.

If not to this degree of utilization, can we at least attempt to find the best use of all our resources at home and in office? We need to handle wisely, all the resources earth has bestowed us with, both natural and material so that they can be saved for the generations to come.

2009 Global Executive Search Trends- Cook Associates

Here is an article on the global trends of executive search in 2008- 2009.

This has a picture of the ground realities of US, South Africa, Belgium, Malaysia, Brazil, Australia, India and Japan. It also gives the plans for a path forward in the current and projected scenario in the recruitment and executive search markets in these countries. Go to-

http://www.cookassociates.com/executivesearch/documents/trends_globalsearch.html

An excerpt:

Coping: Leading in 2009
Winston Churchill once said that attitude is one little thing that makes a big difference. Attitudes are contagious. In 2009, exuding a positive attitude will be one of the most important behaviors to help navigate through the turbulence.
“For years there has been a war for talent, now there is a war for employment,” says Schelstraete.
That is why Schelstraete is going to give hope to people he works with, highlight positive news, meet more candidates and keep clients aware of the opportunities for recruiting.
Barrick seconds the approach. “It is never easy to conduct a truly consultative service-based business,” says Barrick, “So let’s be nimble, let’s be innovative and let’s continue to deliver with passion.” “We have identified key short-term objectives and measure ourselves monthly in our progress towards achieving them,” says Barrick. “We have launched an internal campaign amongst all our staff called “passion lives here.”
Khoo of Malaysia is going to be more aggressive in her recruiting strategies aiming at more recession proof industries.
For Epperlein in Brazil, the solution of 2009 issues lies in transforming challenges into opportunities for growth.
Both Waite and McCool of Australia and the United States respectively agree that the solution lies in developing closer and more effective communication with the clients.
Meanwhile Wouters of Japan is going to focus on staying in the public’s attention by efficient marketing and public relations efforts.
Misra of India sees the way out by arming with key strategic tools. “In the current scenario, as companies employ “targeted hiring strategies”, it is important to equip ourselves, more than ever, with information and an active awareness of the availability of specific skill sets in the market place,” says Misra. Fortified with the right strategies, executive search consultants can help position prospective candidates more effectively.
Although the globe is bent with the hurdles of a rough economy, executive search firms see opportunities on the horizon. Good executives will no longer be adequate for futuristic companies looking for excellence in CEOs and hence, with executive recruiters. Thus, executive search firms will have to be ready to meet the demands of their clients and provide services better than ever before. Whoever withstands the storms of 2009 will be ready to embark again.

Spearhead Intersearch in Mumbai

Look out! Here comes our Mumbai team in battle gear and fully armed... to hunt for heads in your city. The newest addition to the SHIS family, Mumbai office is now fully functional.
Inviting Sridhar and Mayur Vora to give all the details here, and some photographs of our lovely office and lovelier guest room. It looks yummy, Im sure!

India Inc. Meltdown Impact

India Inc. is cruising slow but steadily as the global slowdown has dampened the hiring prospects, causing it's outlook to hit lowest ever.According to a survey only 19 per cent of the employers are showing positive recruitment plans. There seems to be a considerable decrease of 24 per cent points quarter-on-quarter and 27 per cent year-on-year.

Employers in India report the second strongest hiring intentions globally, next to Peru. The situation is unclear;the amount of damage done to the world economy is uncertain and the clear picture can come up only in next 5-6 months time.

East India has the strongest hiring plans with a net employment outlook of 20 per cent followed by the South India at 19 per cent. However, the weakest hiring plans are surfacing in West and North India at 18 per cent only.

Analysis shows that mining, construction and manufacturing sectors can expect the most active hiring environment. While Wholesale and Retail sector can get the worst hit with a net employment outlook of 11 per cent.

Though global slowdown has affected world's economy the positive sign is that India and China are surviving it relatively well with the latter being limited to -1 per cent to the expected growth rate.

Visit to BIEC Automation Fair

Dev has an interesting article.

http://spearheadatbiec.blogspot.com/2008/12/fun-at-work.html

Here is an excerpt:

“Dev, you and Krithi get ready for the Automation Trade Fair on 10th December at the BIEC”. Those were the first words of SB when he stepped into office on Monday, 8th December.

Believe me, I was on my foot and said, “Yes Sir”. I found out the names of the participating companies, didn’t print it though. I got the cab booked (AC – Tavera); after all we were representing Spearhead Intersearch.

So 10th December it was and we were there at the entrance. It was a fair where around 500 companies from automation and engineering sector were to showcase their products and services. Krithi, a goddess who just came down to earth in a black salwar suit was the centre of attraction and the god himself was just making the girls go crazy in light purple shirt and pitch black trousers.

The setup in BIEC was huge. Sorry, I don’t have any pictures to support the last line but I am telling you, it was indeed a great show. You could actually see faces from almost every part of the world standing in their respective stalls, all looking enthusiastic and charged up (They had to be, it was 11 AM in morning) showcasing all kinds of components and equipments used in factories and automobiles.

However, for us it was a nightmare. I am an electronics engineer and Krithi I believe is also the same and here we are in the middle of Pumps, Motors, Shafts, Belts, Screws, Filters etc etc etc. I always told my dad that I wanted to be a Mechanical Engineer but he never listened to me (Sorry dad. I just pulled you unnecessary into this). We could see people in front of us, we could see them staring at us but we were still thinking as to where and how should we start. Now the famous lines comes into play, Where There Is a Will There Is a Way (Oh!! that rhymed...hai Na? Sometimes I think that I should have been a poet...haha)

Anyways, let the story continue. So we took a round of the entire hall and decided that it’s time to attack the Germans. We were actually looking for faces. I don’t know whether you would agree to me or not, but I think that one can easily make out from the face of the person that whether he is a CEO or MD or someone else and this works with me when relating faces to roles. We were bang on target from the beginning as we bumped into one CEO and then into an MD. Believe me; talking to them is far more knowledgeable and fruitful rather than speaking to some company representative. So we were doing well, actually very well indeed.

There were mostly German companies who have some distributor in India. Most of the Indian partners or subsidiaries were pretty new to the Indian industry. When asked about the plans of expansion almost everyone had one common answer, “This recession has put a halt on our plans of expansion. Maybe in the next 1 year we would think of coming to Indian markets as they hold great opportunities”. Everyone actually praised the Indian markets and still India is sometimes referred to as 3rd world country, strange, isn’t it? We got to speak to lot of people, some were even themselves looking for change (ya ya...dont worry, I have their names and numbers).
We were at our peak of BD when suddenly Krithi’s sandals gave up; I guess it had enough of walking so it just snapped. But that did not stop Krithi from walking. She did not look down or even back down. Spearhead spirit is just great. We then went to other stalls. We also met the officials of a company from Taiwan. They were good, but believe me after we spoke to them I am actually planning to open an institute and name it as Can You Teach Me English? You won’t believe, I had to bend down, fist to match his height and then I had to reduce my rate of speech from 120 wpm to almost 30 wpm. It was a challenging thing to do and you know Dev and Krithi, we are born to take challenges. Anyways, we finally took a break and had lunch at the food court there, Executive Non-Veg meal and a Chicken Club sandwich. It was good. Could have been better if they would have used some extra pieces of chicken. Well, I guess the chicken sale also has taken a hit in this recession period and the chickens have reduced their egg laying capacity. “You don’t give us food, we won give you eggs”, that’s what the chickens must be saying.
The post lunch session was also good for us. We met lot of officials. Showcased Spearhead Intersearch in the best possible professional way. Gave out lots of visiting cards and also collected lots of them. I would say it was a good day. Lot of work done. Lots of contacts made. We may not be able to target them right now, but 6 months down the lane we sure would have a good chance of healthy business with them.

Overall, it was a good exposure for both of us. We have two pictures that we took when we were out of the halls. Actually were so busy working, we actually forgot taking pictures to make this more illustrious. Anyways, something is better than nothing.

What are the prime requirements to be a successful headhunter?

I came across this article on one of my group in Linked-in. It was posted by Abbas Jalias Rizvi, Deputy Manager Recruitment, ACME Tele Power Limited

This question was asked to me just when my career as a Search Consultant had started. I believe one is born a Search guy; we are headhunters by birth or not.

So what is mandatory to be in Headhunting:
1. Memory: Always remember whom you interacted with, even if it has been years. Or at least don't let the other person know if you don't remember at all. The name of key people in the industry or vertical should be on tips and the movements keenly watched for and scrutinized too.

2. Relationship: A personal side always help in the Indian scenario. People love to meet for lunch and talk over a cup of tea. These activities go a long way. After all relations are what we build and networks are what we thrive on. But more important than that is what kind of value adds these things can do for you. Some people can be good information churners for a headhunter, what we call the insiders, and some people would like to even give you a casual call for infomation. So people connect with you for something or the other. It's a give and take relationship, which at least we would like to call in good words mutually beneficial.

3. Ego: I have come to believe now that it's not about money, it's not about anything else. It is about power. The power of information and the maturity the Search industry can provide you is what I still love it for. This overwhelming sense of reach and approach make people sustain in it for long. It's the equality and fair share of ears from people double my age which I loved. You are a consultant to all.

To sum up, I would like to just state what I said to my batchmates when they asked me for my choice of industry. "I am interacting with those people right now whom you would continue seeing newpapers, television, and websites for another 10 years. And yes I address them with their first names."
http://www.linkedin.com/groupAnswers?viewQuestionAndAnswers=&gid=51584&discussionID=557407&commentID=692281&trk=discq_mor&goback=%2Ehom#commentID_692281.

Tata will top car market share growth

By 2013,the global market share growth of India's Tata brand cars will be the highest among all brands,says a study by leading global market Intelligence firm US basedGlobal Insight.
The study prepared for the Indian automative industry lobby Xociety if Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) says tgat by 2013, Tata brand light vehicles will double their global market share from 0.6 per cent to 1.2 per cent - a gain of 0.6 per cent.
The second fastesst growing car brand will be the Chinese brand chery,the market share of which will grow from 0.6 per cent - the same as that of the Tata brand now - to one per cent by 2013.
India's maruti brand too will see an increase in its global market shar from one per cent now to 1.1 per cent by 2013.
Apart from these brands the other brand that will see a big rise in market share is the French Renault.It is predictedd to gain 0.3 per cent share from 3.1 per cent now to 3.4 per cent by 2013.
Other gainers would be the Japanese brand Nissan,German brand BMW and AudiJapanese brand Mitshubishi,Czech Brand Skoda and Chinese brand Wuling.
Market study says that Japanese brand Honda, German brand Mercedes -Benz and US brand Dodge will have almost the same market share.
The worst hit brands will be the US brand Ford,registering a decline of 0.7 per cent that will be from 7.1 per cent now to 6.4 per cent then.
The next worst hit brand will be the French brand Peugeot.


Research : Tata Young a Thai American singer,model and actress has got her name sought after the Indian car manufacturing brand Tata.When Tata Young's father was travelling in India,and he can't think of a name, those days Tata was very famous in India, and that is how she got her name.

Bata shoe mogul dead

Thomas Bata, owner of the global shoe conglomerate 'Bata', a house hold name in India, died here at the age of 93.
A spokesperson of Bata Shoe Museum said he died early yesterday in Sunnybrook Hospital only weeks before his 94th birthday.
She did not give cause of his death. Funeral arrangements were not immediately known.
Bata is survived by wife Sonja, a son and three daughters.
Bata came to Canada to make his mark, he had said some years ago. "I wanted to do something where I could say OK, now this enterprise I built on my own. Canada was the one country that I selected for this experiment." By 1940, the Batawa plant was in business. And after 1945, when the Czech factories were nationalised by the Communists, the company headquarters was relocated to Toronto under Bata's leadership. Toronto is home to the Bata Shoe Museum, a four-storey structure with 10,000 shoes.
The company returned to the Czech Republic in 1989, after the Communist regime ended, nearly 100 years after the firm was founded in 1894.
Thomas G Bata, a grandson of the founder, became chairman of the business in 2001.
Bata's father, Tomas, a ninth generation cobbler, founded the shoe empire in Zlin in 1894, which later swelled into the giant Bata Shoe Organisation. Thomas Bata ran the shoe company from the 1940s into the 1980s.
"One of the greatest personalities of our time has left," Czech President Vaclav Klaus said in a statement.
"Despite ill fortune in his homeland, he managed to succeed in the world and became for us a symbol of business success. We will all miss him," Klaus said.
Born September 17, 1914, in Czechoslovakia, Thomas Bata's life was buffeted by the worst horrors of the 20th century. He exiled himself in Canada in 1938 when the rise of Nazism forced him to flee his homeland. Seven years later, having served with the Canadian army on the battlefields, he returned to his freshly liberated birthplace, but not for long When the communists took over the country after the WW-II, they seized his factory and declared Bata a capitalist evil.
"I found it very sad," Bata said in an interview in 2005, "because what we thought was liberation really became a dictatorship of the communists." The regime gave the company a new name and it went on making shoes, but it was Bata, headquartered in Toronto that remained a byword for shoes.
Bata broadcast support to the dissident movement on Radio Free Europe and offered his business as a vision of what could be - "so that people would see that the democratic system, based on democratic economy, would be the most advantageous for them." It took 40 years, but vindication finally came in 1989. As Eastern European communist dictatorships collapsed one by one, Vaclav Havel, the Czech dissident leader and playwright turned president, asked Bata to come back.

List of Small-Medium HR firms

Finally someone has taken the initiative to build a comprehensive list of HR and OD firms doing good work but not so widely known. Here is the link- http://gauteg.blogspot.com/2008/06/list-of-small-and-medium-management.html

Hope to see the list grow with suggestions and new names coming in.

Microfinance in Northern/Eastern India

A lot is being said about microfinance in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu or Gujarat. What many dont know is the slow but steady rise in micro financing in the states like Bihar, Jharkhand, MP or West Bengal.
Recently SKS, one of the biggest microfinance companies in India and now featured in a Forbes list, opened shop in Bihar. Already companies like Basix, Share and Nidan has been getting its market share. Smaller start-up companies are coming in with the help of giants like Unitus or the Dell Foundation or the Bellweather Foundation to hold their hands.
Cashpor Microcredit operating in Bihar and UP has recently crossed the 100,000 client mark. These are some of the poorest regions in India. This is a tiny number as compared to states such as Andhra Pradesh, but it is a significant start nevertheless. Bandhan and Arohan are smaller setups working in various districts in West Bengal.

What does it mean for us.

Whereas larger microfinance companies have been using the services of executive search firms for some time, only recently have the start-ups and smaller firms realised the need to get top talent in their top management. Microfinance organizations are not always not-for-profit firms and hence selling and recovering becomes integral to their bottomline. What is required then is aggressive selling of loans on the one hand and also humanitarian forms of recovering the loans without pressure but with efficiency. Founders are understanding the need of getting corporate hotshots, with experience in private banks or even from diverse backgrounds like FMCG selling to lead the business from the front.
A perfect match would be a combination of the above skills with the passion for development work. And whereas that is not to difficult to find, one has got to know where to look.
Sammaan Foundation is a non profit company started by two graduates from IIM-A and IIT-K. It provides funds to rickshaw pullers and even redesigns rickshaws to suit the pullers and passengers better. The difference brains make to the project is this- besides funds from leading funding agencies these two have deviced other revenue generation shemes, advertisements on rickshaws, mineral water bottles and newspapers to passengers etc, while working towards a sustainable livelihood for the pullers.
Therefore, young brains are always available to lead companies to a bright future. More and more microfinance agencies are realising that. And they are ready to pay the price to get them on board.

Indians in the TIME 100

The 2008 Time 100 list has, surprise surprise, Sonia Gandhi, Mr Tata of the Nano, Indra Pepsi Nooyi. Well, Ms Gandhi was not born Indian, and Ms Nooyi was but grazes greener pastures. That leaves Ratan Tata, the only 'true' Indian on the list. Well, there is the Dalai Lama too, and one can vehemently argue that he is as much Indian as you and I, after all, we all root for a free Tibet too.
BTW, Hu Jintao, also makes the list. Thank God they put the Dalai Lama before him, even though the list is not ranked.