Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
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Stop, Fief!
| Guess which of these three sourcing and recruiting strategies Bersin & Associates found to have the highest “business impact”:
(1) Consolidating staffing requirements across the organization
(2) Internal sourcing: internal job postings, career planning, and promotion to recruit from within
(3) Employer brand: using web, collateral, and marketing to position well for recruiting
What do you think?
Perhaps your organization emphasizes strategies (2) and (3). These rate 29% and 22% business impact respectively. The most successful strategy according to Bersin is (1) with a 42% business impact. That formal and active control function has the second highest impact of all best practices they list! Yet staffing requirements are usually in control of organizational fiefdoms. If you and your colleagues are having trouble getting and keeping the best candidates, fight the fiefs.
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Posted on: June 27, 2007 08:03 PM
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Finding Problem Solvers
| There are some project jobs that need problem-solvers. These jobs require someone who can assess the situation, list effective options and choose the best course of action. It may be with a team, or it may be solo.
How do you find these kind of workers in an interview? According to Michael Mercer, Ph.D., you can use scenario-based questions. It is a common practice to ask a candidate, “What would you do in this situation…?” But Mercer says to create a wickedly tough project scenario (my description), explain it to the candidate with plenty of details and let the candidate work on it for a while and report back to you in 15 - 60 minutes. After the presentation, you can judge for yourself whether the candidate can solve the kind of problems you have. Try it! |
Posted on: June 21, 2007 09:21 PM
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Weed Out The Slackers!
| Many a project manager has been cursed with one or more slackers on the project. They not only burn dollars while avoiding work and watching the clock, they suck out the productivity of better workers by excessive socializing and distraction.
Your best bet is to weed out these slackers before they even get into your project. A variety of interview techniques are shown here under “5 - work ethic.” I agree with checking the duration of each previous position. Then follow that up with asking what the candidate liked about the previous positions. Listen “between the lines” to judge the work ethic of the individual.
What I didn’t know was that the author says his research showed that high-performers worked during high school and college. Slackers did not work during either. That’s a good quick test. |
Posted on: June 21, 2007 09:04 PM
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H-1B Crackdown!
| I get back from vacation and look at the news and not much has changed.
The concern in the U.S. over offshoring - not necessarily caused by my recent posts and articles - has now grown into an actual government investigation. This particular investigation is specific to the H-1B visa program and some offshore-based outsourcing companies. Evidently these outsourcing firms (such as Indian companies Infosys Technologies and Wipro) are believed to fill needed U.S. positions initially, but then get their people trained and cycle them back to their home countries to work, where they are used to permanently replace U.S. workers. Bwaa haa haaa! A nefarious plan.
This seems to me like one of those phenomena a country can manage a little better, but cannot change. Offshore expertise will improve over time, making it more easy for those offshore to replace US workers. Any company, no matter where it is headquartered will feel the competitive drive to lower workforce costs while maintaining or improving performance. Case in point: It’s not just companies in India doing this - it’s companies headquartered in the U.S. with “extensive outsourcing operations” in India, such as Accenture and Cognizant Technology Solutions. How will Senate investigators treat those organizations? I bet they are not investigated as aggressively if at all. the situation is just too complicated.
You cannot avoid being affected by this in some way whether you use offshore labor or not. Just manage it as best you can. Oh, and if you are using the companies being investigated, begin preparing your statement now. |
Posted on: June 11, 2007 10:18 PM
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More Evidence for Social Learning
| I remember Fast Company magazine many years ago stating that “Learning is Social”. Having a background in learning and performance, I applauded their promoting this point. The problem was that there was little support for social learning. Even if tools and techniques were available in most organizations to help social learning, they were not used adequately.
Now, Accenture is promoting their success at what they call ‘phenomenal’ learning. Trainees work through real-life scenarios and simultaneously build relationships across the organization. They are surprised and connected – and thus more engaged. Of course, this could be just a consulting company blowing its own horn, but look at the similarity in what they have done and what is needed to improve employee engagement as discussed in previous posts and related studies. The convergence of many factors may finally force training to take on the social aspect so sorely needed.
I’ll be on vacation for a couple of weeks. Keep your eye on your workforce until I return. |
Posted on: May 26, 2007 10:46 PM
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